Fire destroys car, damages house in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — A vehicle was destroyed and a residence was damaged after a resident attempted to destroy a wasp nest with a torch Saturday morning.

The fire was reported about 9:30 a.m., according to the Moses Lake Police Department, when witnesses driving by saw a car fully engulfed in flames. The fire also damaged the exterior of the residence, according to the Moses Lake Fire Department.

Fire crews extinguished the car fire and went inside the residence “to check for extension into the attic and found a small fire at the roof vent,” which they extinguished by cutting out the burning roof vent, according to the MLFD report. The house’s siding was damaged also.

Firefighters “talked with the renter, and he said he used a small torch to burn a wasp nest in the garbage can,” the MLFD report said. The resident “advised he was sure the fire he caused with the torch was completely out” before he left the residence, the MLPD report said.

The resident said he waited for about an hour before leaving, the MLFD report said. “The garbage can was what caught fire first and spread to the (vehicle) and then to the residence,” the fire department report said.

Three fire crews responded to the fire. Once on scene the car fire was extinguished in about 10 minutes.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.