Flames destroy Renton home, nearly catch apartments on fire

RENTON, Wash. — A fire destroyed a woman’s home in Renton, tore through some trees and got dangerously close to a nearby apartment complex.

“All I woke up to was everyone yelling ‘evacuate!’ and ‘get out!’” said Kailie Smith.

Smith woke up to first responders banging on her apartment door. She lives in the Fairwood Landing apartment complex, which sits just yards from where the fire began.

Kailie could smell the smoke in her bedroom. She grabbed her brother, Cyle Smith, and they ran out.

“I just ran outside and then I just saw a gigantic fire,” said Cyle.

Renton firefighters said the fire started around 9:15 Friday morning and quickly took over the entire home. The wind was strong and sent the fire straight toward the neighboring apartments.

“It was pretty scary because, at one point, the trees started to catch on fire and then that’s when everyone started getting a little more worried,” said Kailie.

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“Because of their concern with the wind blowing to the north, and the apartment complex there along a line of very tall fir trees, smoke began and sparks began to ignite those trees and that was endangering the apartment complex,” said Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority Capt. Kyle Ohashi.

Firefighters called in more crews to make sure everyone stayed safe. They grabbed hoses from the apartment and broke out fire extinguishers, successfully keeping the flames away.

The woman who lived in the home escaped safely. On Friday afternoon, investigators confirmed that the fire was caused by "improperly discarded smoking material inside the house considered accidental."

KIRO 7 will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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