Soap Lake fire destroys home, displaces family

SOAP LAKE — A house fire Wednesday night left a family in Soap Lake homeless and with limited financial resources.

Grant County Fire District 7 (GCFD 7) responded to a structure fire at 5:33 p.m. at 630 Second Ave. NE in Soap Lake, according to a social media post Thursday by the district.

Upon arrival at the mobile home, GCFD 7 Chief Kirk Sheppard said the home was fully engulfed in flames. He requested a response from all available firefighters from Station 1, the post stated. Fire engines 71-14 and 71-15 arrived and battled the blaze.

Mutual aid was provided by the Ephrata Fire Department, which arrived with two engines to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby properties, the post stated.

After more than two hours, the blaze was brought under control and the cause is under investigation.

GCFD 7 volunteer firefighter Jane Chambers said in an email to the Herald the home was being rented by Rodney Jipson. Two of his children were also living in the home.

“He’s a great guy and really popular with the teens in the area because his house is always a safehaven of sorts,” Chambers said.

She mentioned he had no renters insurance and all the cash he had on hand to pay his rent, bills, etc., was also destroyed in the house fire. The family also has three dogs that have not been accounted for or spotted since the fire, according to Shawna Kluge, who is arranging efforts to find the dogs.

A GoFundMe account has been set up for the family at https://gofund.me/86e6667e.

As of Thursday evening, more than $4,600 was raised out of the $10,000 goal.

The fundraiser was set up by Misty Garza Durkin, whose son is best friends with Rodney’s son. In the fundraiser’s bio, Durkin said Rodney is a wonderful person who would take in all the neighborhood kids.