Firefighter Out For A Jog Prevents Leavenworth Business From Going “Up In Smoke”

A firefighter who was jogging in the Leavenworth area this morning got an earlier-than-expected start to his work day when he helped save a local business from going up in smoke.

Dept. Chief Mike Smith of Chelan County Fire District No. 3 tells KPQ News his morning run took him by a commercial structure with an attached apartment unit in the 200 block of U.S. Highway 2 at around 6:15 a.m.

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"I actually wasn't on duty yet and was out on a run when I came upon the building and saw a planter out front and below a window was on fire."

Smith said after calling 9-1-1 to alert emergency responders who were on duty this morning, he then sprang into action in his leisure attire.

"I grabbed a garden hose and was able to put some water on it and knock it down, but it had extended a little bit into the walls of the structure. Our (Fire District 3) engine and battalion chief on duty responded, got here, and started pulling some of the wall out to get inside and make sure it hadn't extended any further."

Smith says it took crews about 30 minutes to completely extinguish the fire and make certain it could no longer spread.

Damage to the structure was minimal, save for the planter - which Smith says was destroyed.

He adds there were no injuries and the lone occupant of the building, who was home when the fire broke out, will still be able to occupy both the apartment and the business.

Smith says the cause of the blaze was electrical in nature, and he and his colleagues all had a good chuckle after getting things under control since the name of the business where the fire broke out is "Up In Smoke."