Oso house fire displaces family of six, kills two dogs

OSO, Wash. — An Oso family of six is now displaced after their house caught fire Tuesday morning on Oso Loop Road.

Toby Hyde, assistant fire chief of the Oso Fire Department, said the neighborhood lost power at about 9:30 a.m.

The homeowners placed a backup generator outside on their porch near the house, minutes before the house caught fire, he said.

“It was not set up far enough away from the house,” he said. “They produce a lot of heat. If you have flammable objects around that generator, you could cause fires.”

The high winds also caused the fire to spread quickly throughout the house, Hyde said.

“This was a wind-driven fire. As soon as we got on scene, we tried to knock it down. The wind coming up the valley, drove the fire right through the rest of the house. It was hard to control with the wind that was happening at the time,” he said.

There are no reported injuries.

Julie Young, store manager of Oso General Store, said she saw the fire and called 911.

“I never seen wind like that before and the rushing of the fire was incredible,” she said. “I was on the road, and you can feel the heat from the fire.”

Young said she is now using her store, located across the street from the house fire, to collect monetary donations from the public to help the family.

“I just want them to know we’ll take care of them,” she said. “And I don’t’ want them to leave the community. They’re a very special part of it.”

Tiffanie Pearson told KIRO 7 News that she personally understands the impact of a house fire after her childhood home caught fire. She created a GoFundMe to help the family during this difficult time.

“I have known this family with four children for several years and my heart breaks for their loss. The Oso house was their dream, and they were slowly trying to restore it. They’ve lost everything. In this small, tight-knit community, we look out for each other and support our friends and neighbors,” she wrote in a statement.

“The Oso community is a great community. We had an outpouring of support, and we have lots of support that’s going to help them (family of six) through this transition. We got some folks trying to find them housing. The Red Cross is involved,” said Hyde.

Hyde urged the public to place their backup generators away from their homes and flammable objects, especially on hot and dry days, if their home loses power.

“Every year people run generators in their houses, next to their houses, in the garage. There’s some fatalities from CO2. Generator safety during power outages is really important. Really important,” he said.

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