Family of 8 loses house, garage and car in Puyallup fire

PUYALLUP, Wash. — A family of eight in Puyallup is displaced after their house caught fire Thursday.

“My husband kind of woke up, he could hear glass shattering. We kind of sprinted up and ran out here and everything was just in flames,” said Lilia Williamson.

Central Pierce Fire & Rescue said no one was injured. However, a detached garage, most of the house, and a car burned.

Neighbors say the fire started around 12:30 a.m., and flames were coming from the detached garage.

“There was a lot of smoke. I mean the whole entire neighborhood kind of smelled like smoke. People were coming out and wondering what was going on,” said Williamson.

Sharol Haggart, who lives two houses down, says several trees caught fire.

“It was pretty much fully engulfed at that time,” said Haggart.

Officials say the smoke alarms alerted the family to the flames, and they all got out safely.

“They were in shock, especially the husband because he was out there trying to water, trying to get the fire down while the firefighters were on their way, so he was kind of just in shock. Yeah, he was having a hard time processing it… The kids were pretty frightened. They were worried about their cat, they were like, ‘Oh no, where is the kitty cat?,’” said Williamson.

Williamson invited the family into her house and helped calm the kids down.

“A really sweet family of five and they had some relatives staying over with them and so they were pretty scared,” said Williamson.

As investigators look into what started the fire, neighbors say they will rally in support of the family.

“Our cul-de-sac is really close, really good neighbors, so you feel for them,” said Haggart.

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