An intense fire that destroyed a historic home on Goat Hill Wednesday was sparked by electrical problems with a dryer outlet, investigators said.

Resident Clancy Donlin had just gotten home from a friend’s house and fallen asleep in a recliner downstairs when he was awakened around 3:30 a.m. by a loud noise he described as an explosion or shot gun blast.

Donlin saw a “brilliant yellow light” as he walked towards the bathroom in the back of the house.

“I pushed the door open and flames just blasted out at me,” he recalled.

He ran out of the house and called 911 to report the fire.

“It was like watching a movie – it was surreal,” he said, adding, “If I had been upstairs, my chances (of surviving) would have been diminished.”

Kirkland Deputy Chief Jack Henderson said the house was already engulfed in flames when 22 firefighters from the Kirkland, Bothell and Woodinville Fire departments responded to the fire at 8802 N.E. 117th Place.

“It’s unfortunate because there’s a significant amount of family history and memorabilia – it will be a total loss clearly,” said Barry Pomeroy, a fire investigator for the King County Fire and Investigation Unit. He added the cause of the fire was accidental, and may have been associated with recent appliance changes. “We’re relieved there was no loss of lives.”

Donlin said he lost family videos of his two daughters growing up.

“The first seven or eight years of their lives are still in that house,” he said. His mother, Patricia, bought the house in 1965 and lived there more than 40 years. “That’s the only thing you can’t replace.”

Built in 1936, the house also served as a historic landmark for the area as the first house built on Goat Hill in the Juanita area.