An unattended barbecue on a wooden deck caused a fire this evening in the 11300 block of SE 237 Place.

Alert neighbors reported the fire at 7:08 pm, after seeing a deck fire that had begun spreading into the main portion of the two-story home.

When firefighters from the Kent RFA arrived, they found flames from the back deck had broken out several windows in the house and were beginning to spread into the living room. The fire was quickly extinguished, though firefighters spent the next hour removing the burnt wood around the window and of the deck to ensure that the fire was completely out.

No one was home at the time of the fire. A fire investigator has determined that a barbecue with hot charcoal briquettes had been left too close to the house, allowing the radiant heat to ignite the wood siding. A large portion of the deck was also charred by the fire.

There were no injuries.