Firefighters Evacuate Home during Kitchen Fire Saturday Night

Officials from the Yakima Fire Department are recommending residents have both Ionization and photo-electric smoke detectors after they responded to a structure fire late Saturday night.

Firefighters arrived at a fourplex in the 700 block of South Ninth Avenue and found smoke billowing out of one of the units. They knocked on the door to evacuate the residents, but got no response.

Crews forced open a door and found three people sleeping in a bedroom. Once they were evacuated, they found the source of the smoke in the kitchen. A pot had been left on the stove and it was emitting large amounts of smoke.

Fortunately for the residents, the amount of damage was minimal -- estimated at $200.

According to a news release, firefighters on the scene determined that the family had a working smoke detector but would take the batteries out while cooking to keep it from going off.