ELLISFORDE – The Ellisforde home of Sidney Bosch and his wife was completely destroyed by flames on Monday, Nov. 29 after a fire that began in the basement.

Tonasket Fire Chief Jim Rice said the call came in at 10:31 a.m. and by 3:30 p.m., the house had burned completely and collapsed into the basement, where the firefighters left it to smolder itself out.

“We believe the fire started in the basement, which was fully engulfed before the fire was detected,” Rice said. “When we got there, it had burned through the floor and smoke was coming out of the attic.”

Rice said Bosch was outside at the time the fire was detected and his wife, who was inside, noticed the flames first. She ran outside and to nearby neighbors and asked them to call 911. Rice said the family had three cats and he believes at least two of them survived the fire.

“The cause is unknown, but at this time we think it was electrical,” he said. “If people smell something hot that doesn’t smell right, they should call us because we can come check it out and make sure the house is okay.”

There were no injuries caused by the fire to either the Bosches or the firefighting crews from both the Tonasket and Oroville Fire Departments. Rice said the Tonasket EMS was on-scene to make sure none of the firefighters got heat exhaustion and added they took very good care of the Bosches during the whole ordeal.

“I want to thank everybody who responded,” Rice said. “Everybody involved did a really good job and I’m just glad this didn’t happen during the really freezing weather last week.”

Rice said the Red Cross came up to Ellisforde to help the Bosches with clothing and food and that the couple is staying with friends near Tonasket for the time being.