Mattawa Fire Destroys Homes and Cars Sunday

The cause of a fire that destroyed two homes and five cars in Mattawa Sunday morning around 4:00 am is still under investigation.

Mattawa Fire Chief Joe Noonchester says crews originally responded to a report of a car fire in the area of South Selkirk Avenue and 7th Street, but the call was soon upgraded to a structure fire.

"When we arrived a few minutes later we did find two houses on fire. One was a double-wide and the other was a stick-frame home right next to it, plus multiple cars on fire." explained Noonchester, "So a significant amount of fire."

The fire had traveled through the attic of one of the homes and was difficult for firefighters to get to.

Both houses were total losses, as were 5 cars. There were no injuries.

It took crews about five hours to finish mopping up the fire. Firefighters returned to the scene a couple hours later to take care of a hotspot.