Crews respond to multiple fires that threatened homes over Fourth of July weekend

Local fire departments responded to numerous fires and fireworks-related incidents over the Fourth of July holiday.

In one accident in Kent, three kids, all under 18 years of age, suffered critical injuries when they found an unexploded firework on their front porch and lit it.

The device exploded before they expected it to, injuring all three.

Around 2 a.m. On Sunday in northeast Tacoma, firefighters responded to a house fire, with flames shooting from a garage and spreading to the side of the home.

The house is near 24th Street N.E., about a half mile south of S. 356th Street, near the BPA Trail.

The fire heavily damaged the exterior of the house. Crews had to take a defensive approach to keep the flames from spreading to neighboring homes. (Photo courtesy of the Tacoma Fire Department)

A preliminary investigation shows the fire likely started when someone improperly disposed of fireworks in a garbage can near the home.

After an initial offensive attack, crews had to back away and shift to a defensive stance, fighting the fire from the home’s exterior to keep it from spreading to neighboring homes.

No one was hurt.

Another house in Kent caught fire, again due to fireworks that were not properly extinguished.

Around 2 a.m., a fire burned through the exterior siding of a house after fireworks were set off in a garbage bag.

“Fireworks that had already been discharged were put into a plastic garbage tote next to the house and ended up starting a fire,” said Pat Pawlak, the public information officer for Puget Sound Fire.

Luckily, no injuries were reported in that fire either.

In Seattle, crews had their hands full with several other house fires.

One broke out just before midnight, inside a home on Beacon Avenue S., just east of Renton Avenue S., near S. Fletcher Street.

When crews arrived, they searched the house and the one next to it, but didn’t find anyone inside either.

Firefighters had to remove smoldering debris from the house that caught fire. They are still trying to figure out how that fire started.

About 15 minutes earlier, north Seattle crews responded to another house fire on the east slope of the Magnolia neighborhood, on W. Elmore St., near 33rd W.

Investigators said the fire involved a detached shed. They said flames from the shed spread to a one-story house but did not damage the interior, only scorching the exterior. No injuries were reported.

At about the same time, Seattle firefighters in the south end were dealing with flames from a car fire in South Park that spread to a nearby commercial building.

That fire broke out just south of the interchange where SR 99 and SR 599 meet.

Crews were able to put out the flames before they spread into the building.

In Lake Stevens, crews spent the evening putting out a series of brush fires.

One fire briefly closed Lake Stevens Rd. as firefighters worked to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby structures.

Authorities said there were no major injuries in any of the fires.

However, Harborview Medical Center reports, as of 11:15 a.m. On Sunday, it treated 68 people for fireworks-related injuries during this Fourth of July week.

That’s an increase over the number who suffered injuries last year. In 2025, the hospital treated 52 people for burns and other injuries during the holiday.

This year, 24 of the injuries were to hands, 13 involved eyes, 10 were to other parts of the body, and 21 people suffered injuries to multiple areas.