Washington's Sleepy Hollow fire burns 24 houses, unites a neighborhood

Ted Land | KING 5 News, Seattle-Tacoma

Show Caption Hide Caption Wildfires wipe out homes, neighbors tend to hot spots Firefighters on Washington's Sleepy Hollow Fire have been too busy to keep an eye on all the hot spots, so the communiity grabbed their own garden hoses and took care of the job themselves.

Firefighters at a Washington wildfire that's burned 24 houses and destroyed four businesses have been so busy that they haven't been able to keep an eye on all the hot spots.

So people in one Wenatchee, Wash. neighborhood grabbed garden hoses and took care of the job themselves.

"It's kind of surreal at the moment, it's hard to process," said Eric Curry, who was spraying down the charred remains of his neighbor's house to make sure it didn't reignite and spread to other properties.

Shirley Einarsson's home of 45 years was one of three houses destroyed on one street in this town east of Seattle. The rapidly moving Sleepy Hollow Fire burned 3,000 acres in a less than a day and caused a raging fire at a cardboard recycling factory that then spread to other nearby warehouses. An ammonia leak at one plant caused a "shelter-in-place" advisory.

As of Monday night, the fire was 10% contained, and emergency management for the local county called the fire a "disaster."

"It's probably really going to hit me harder in a few days when I realize I don't have anything," Einarsson said.

She lost a generation of belongings and gained a new level of appreciation for the people next door, who were there for her from the moment the flames approached.

She was asleep when the fire reached her neighborhood.

"Our neighbor Alex was pounding on Shirley's door because he knew she was in here," said Curry.

Einarsson finally woke up, minutes before her house burned.

"He saved her life," said Curry.

"We have a wonderful neighborhood, it's just fabulous," said Einarsson, who planned to spend the day shopping for new clothes.

"No point in crying, they were just things," she said, "they weren't life."

Fire crews are concentrating on preventing any more homes from being burned. Crews were working to put out hot spots in already burned areas, while keeping an eye on winds that could fan flames again.

A light rain fell on the area early Monday morning, giving firefighters some help. But the rain stopped later in the morning.

There were no serious injuries reported but some firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Related: Complete wildfire coverage on KING5.com

Contributing: The Associated Press, KING staff