An intense fire that destroyed a historic home on Goat Hill last Wednesday was sparked by electrical problems in 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 toward 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.

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.