The fire that would eventually destroy two College Hill homes Sunday afternoon was caused by a marijuana cigarette, according to the Pullman Fire Department.
Fire Inspector Tony Nuttman said in a Wednesday news release that the fire started when embers from the cigarette caused a couch to catch fire on the outside deck of a three-story home on Maple Street. Strong winds spread the fire to the wooden deck and then the home.
The winds carried embers from the fire to Howard Street, more than a block away, where they landed on the cedar shake roof of another home, which caught fire.
The cigarette belonged to two visitors from Colorado who were smoking it while standing on the deck, according to the fire department. The Washington State University students who live at the house were away from home when the flames spread.
Both homes were determined to be a total loss and the city’s building inspector tagged both homes as uninhabitable. WSU student housing and the American Red Cross are working with the dozen students displaced from both homes to provide housing.
Pullman fire officials said none of the students had renters’ insurance.
