Garbage truck accident ignites residential fire

A garbage truck clipped a power line Nov. 23, overloading a junction box and igniting a residential fire at Southeast 18th and 154th Avenue.

A garbage truck clipped a power line Nov. 23, overloading a junction box and igniting a residential fire at Southeast 18th and 154th Avenue.

The Bellevue Fire Department responded to the scene around 2:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a live, sparking wire in the street from the clipped power line. The incident had cut power to six homes.

Only after arriving and examining the scene did one officer notice smoke and investigate.

“It was a bit of a difficult source to find. No resident said anything about smoke or any fire. Luckily, one of the firefighters saw a small amount of smoke… For this occurrence to actually ignite a fire is pretty rare,” said Fire Department spokesperson Ryan Armstrong.

The fire was extinguished in roughly five minutes. No one was home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.