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Fire rips through house boat in Ballard

BALLARD, Wash. — A house fire ripped through the top level of a home on the ship canal east of the Ballard Bridge on Friday night.

"Like a hot furnace,” said Darryl Carlson, who saw the fire when he visited his girlfriend.

"It's pretty epic, pretty crazy,” he said.

Neighbors used hoses, fire extinguishers and even a freshwater pump to stop the flames from spreading before firefighters arrived.

"Saw a big, bright orange light out my window and I ran out here. The fire was already going,” said Kenny Kramer, one of the neighbors.

"All those neighbors ran over, did everything we could,” he added.

KIRO 7 was there as firefighters worked to investigate the fire.

The homeowner told KIRO 7 he's thankful for all of the help.

"I’ve seen fires before. I’m familiar with them, but that was pretty wild,” said Carlson.

"And the fact that we didn't lose any other boats - that's huge. Because in a marina things go so fast - jump boat to boat,” said Carlson.