Fire destroys Elk resident’s home

Donald Johnson spent Tuesday afternoon watching firefighters drench the blackened remains of his home.

“Everything’s gone,” he said, sitting on an old wire spool outside of his barn.

The fire gutted the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Elk, Wash., where Johnson, 42, lived alone.

He purchased the house at 7210 E. Oregon Road last October and was starting to pay off the mortgage.

The fire started just before 1 p.m. Tuesday in the attic, before the ceiling collapsed onto the ground floor.

The house was a total loss, though an estimate of damages probably won’t come until later this week, said Pat Humphries, spokesman for Fire District 4.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.

“I don’t know with all the damage in the attic if we’ll ever find out,” Humphries said.

The fire sent thick black smoke into the afternoon sky as Johnson sat in the shade of his barn leafing through dollar bills and business cards charred at the edges.

Firefighters rescued his wallet.

Johnson was working on a fence in a field behind his house when he looked up and saw smoke rising from the eaves.

His house sits on 80 acres where he raises goats and horses and harvests hay.

He was planning to head down Tuesday night to the Tri-Cities area, where he works as a registered nurse. His girlfriend, Charlene Crouch, 41, said he would probably stay at her house in Elk.

Johnson was insured, and he said he plans to rebuild.