Damage was estimated at about $5,000 to a mobile home that caught fire Saturday evening along the shore of Lake Washington on Rainier Avenue, according to King County Fire District 20 (Skyway Fire).

Skyway firefighters, along with Renton and Tukwila firefighters, responded to the 11400 block of Rainier Ave South, just before 9 p.m. Crews found smoke coming from the entire mobile home; neighbors reported hearing an explosion just before the fire.

Firefighters quickly extinquished the fire,  which was started by an overloaded electric cord attached for space heater, according to Dave Nelson, a fire district spokesman.

A cat was found dead in a back room; no one was inside the mobile home at the time of the fire. 

To reduce fires similar to this one people should:

• Power cords should only be used when plugged in directly to an outlet. Power cords are not meant to be connected together.
• Use only surge protectors or power strips that have internal overload protection and have the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
• Keep clothes, curtains, and other items that can catch fire at least three feet from all portable electric space heaters.