Burbank family loses home. Blaze blamed on fireworks they thought were safely put out

A Burbank family was vacationing on the Oregon Coast when they learned their home had been heavily damaged by discarded fireworks left in a garbage can in their garage.

Sam McKinnis said he was with his wife and family at their home on the coast when they learned about the fire.

McKinnis, regional manager for the Bank of Idaho, said his oldest daughter and a grandchild had remained at the family’s Tuttle Lane home.

The daughter, identified as a “house sitter” on social media and by fire officials, set off fireworks in the street and driveway on July 3. She left the spent fireworks on the ground for 30 to 45 minutes, then disposed of them in a garbage can in the garage.

She was alerted to the fire by the smell of smoke.

McInnis said the fire destroyed the garage, a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle he had nearly finished restoring and his wife and daughter’s vehicles, which were parked beside the garage. Both “melted,” McKinnis said.

The Beetle wasn’t a show car, but he enjoyed restoring it and using it on local gravel roads. The clutch needed work, but it was otherwise ready to be registered and insured.

“It was just a quirky little car,” he said.

The combination of smoke, flames and water damaged not only the garage but much of the family home, including personal possessions.

McKinnis said he and his wife, Jennifer, are staying in a trailer connected to a barn on the property, but they lack water. Their youngest remained at the coast, near her grandparents.

The home is insured.

McKinnis said his daughters created a GoFundMe campaign in his name to help with expenses that aren’t covered by his policy. A GoFundMe spokesman said the campaign has been verified.

“This fourth of July our family woke up to news that no one should ever have to receive,” the post said. “Our house had caught fire overnight due to some non-extinguished fire works left unattended by our house sitter while we were on vacation,”

It was Burbank’s most significant house fire in a generation, said Chief Michael Wickstrom, of Walla Walla Fire District 5.

“I’ve been here 25 years and I’ve never lost a house,” Wickstrom said.

The fire is considered a horrible accident and no charges are planned, he said.

“She feels terrible,” said Wickstrom, who said no criminal charges are expected.

The Pasco Fire Department also helped with the blaze.

Wickstrom said the garage was engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived. The fire had spread to the attic, forcing firefighters to pull down the ceiling in portions of the home.

Electric service has been cut off, which Wickstrom said is standard procedure when power systems are damaged. McKinnis said the wiring was destroyed.

McKinnis said 3D imaging of the home reveals that at least a third of the structure will have to be completely rebuilt.