The Hoquiam and Aberdeen fire departments responded to a fire call early Saturday morning at a Hoquiam residence.

No injuries were reported, said Hoquiam Fire Chief Matt Miller, and the residence, located on the 200 block of 5th Street was ostensibly unoccupied. A passerby called in the fire, Miller said.

“We were called at 7:02 (a.m.) for smoke coming from a house. The first unit on scene was a Hoquiam police officer,” Miller said in a phone interview. “He thought he heard somebody inside but there was no one inside.”

The call was escalated to a second alarm when the first unit arrived on scene and found smoke and fire venting from multiple locations, Miller said. Firefighters rapidly attacked the fire, which was concentrated in the kitchen area, Miller said.

“We had our first unit on-scene at 7:06. We had the fire knocked down at 7:12,” Miller said. “We had to do some overhaul.”

Efforts were slightly hampered by clutter inside and outside the residence, Miller said. Firefighters were able to determine the origin of the fire was in the kitchen, but were unable to discern the specific cause. Damage to the residence is thorough, Miller said.

“There was pretty expensive damage on the inside,” Miller said. ”It would take a lot of work to get it back to being livable.”

Heat and smoke damage were spread throughout both stories of the house, Miller said.

“If you do have a fire in your house, close all your doors and stop the spread of the fire through the house,” Miller said. “The front door was open, pulling the fire through the house.”

The Hoquiam Police Department is investigating the circumstances around the fire, Miller said.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.