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Fire at Felix Hernandez' house in Bellevue

BELLEVUE, Wash. — The home of Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez burned Monday afternoon. The fire that started shortly after 3 p.m. on Northeast 1st Street in Bellevue, brought crews from Bellevue, Redmond and Mercer Island. About 4 p.m., Bellevue firefighters were working on salvage and overhaul.

No one was home, firefighters said, and no injuries were reported. It was not clear what started the fire.

Felix Hernandez and his wife, Sandra, were on vacation in California when the fire broke out. According to King Felix’s Twitter account they were in Napa Valley.

The couple’s children, 8 year old Mia and 4 year old Jeremy were in town. They were not in the house when the fire started, they were with their nanny.

Pam Aramburo hurried to the house. Her aunt is the nanny for the Hernandez family.

“I’m just hoping she’s OK. She gets nervous,” said Aramburo. “I just care about them. I just want to know they’re OK. They’re not harmed physically. I’m sure they are emotionally,“ Aramburo added.

Maja  Arnold lives across the street. A neighbor texted her to tell her about the fire. “The kids are OK, that’s the most important thing,” said Arnold, “The nicest family ever, very good neighbors.

Neighbors told KIRO 7 the Hernandez family is in the process of building a new house nearby. Property records show the home, assessed at $2.85 million, was purchased by Hernandez and his wife in July 2010 for $3.2 million. Those records show the luxury home was built the year before. Hernandez, a four-time all-star who made his major league debut with the Mainers in 2005, threw the 23rd perfect game in Major League history last year at Safeco Field. He won the Cy Young Award in 2010, the year he also was the American League ERA leader.

Fire investigators spent hours trying to find the cause of the fire. When asked if the fire looked suspicious, Bellevue Fire Lieutenant Robert Burke said, “No, not at all. But we’re still in the initial phases of the investigation.” It got too dark for fire investigators Monday night.  They decided to halt their investigation until Tuesday morning.

Hernandez was expected to be on his way back to Bellevue. Our news crew did not see him stop by the house Monday night.

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