A vacant residence on Monroe Street in Hoquiam was destroyed in a Sunday evening fire that damaged a neighboring house.

The cause of the fire is unknown, said Chief Dave Golding of the Aberdeen Fire Department, who responded to assist the Hoquiam Fire Department as they led firefighting efforts.

“It came in at 10:09 p.m.,” Golding said. “Crews arrived to find the house was fully involved and extending to a neighboring house.”

Hoquiam firefighters arriving first on scene immediately escalated the response, Golding said.

“We have an automatic response agreement with Hoquiam for structure fires. We’re part of the initial dispatch for those,” Golding said. “Hoquiam’s first unit on scene quickly called for a second alarm which gets Cosmopolis and Fire District 2. They responded to help as well.”

Nineteen firefighters responded to the fire, which had already ripped through the first house and was starting on the second, Golding said.

“As involved as it was, there was no interior attack made,” Golding said. “The exposure fire off to the side — there was damage to the exterior of the house but luckily it did not get into the interior of the house.”

Dense brush complicated the response, Golding said.

“There was access issues for the house because it was overgrown,’ Golding said. “Access into it was problematic.”

The destroyed house was unoccupied, and there were no resident injuries from the second house, Golding said. One Aberdeen firefighter sustained a minor ankle injury but has since recovered, Golding said.

The Hoquiam Fire Department is investigating the fire, Golding said.

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

Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World Hoquiam firefighters responded to a structure fire Sunday evening that destroyed one house and damaged another.