Two brothers who lost nearly all their possessions early Sunday morning when a fire gutted their rental house at Useless Bay are frustrated with the fire department’s response time.

Joshua Pitts, 27, and his brother Tom, 26, were not at home at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries reported.

“Everything anyone could possibly have, we lost,” Joshua Pitts said Monday. “We lost computers, televisions, furniture, everything.”

“I don’t care about the computers or the TVs,” he added, “but you can’t replace the memorabilia.”

He said most troubling was the loss of family photographs and keepsakes that had belonged to his grandparents.

Flames had enveloped the two-story, three-bedroom house on Melendy Drive near Highway 525 by the time firefighters arrived after 3 a.m., Island County Fire District 3 Deputy Chief Jon Beck said Monday.

He said about 45 South Whidbey firefighters responded, and the crews knocked down the flames in about half an hour.

Beck said the alarm was called in by a neighbor, who reported the rear porch on fire.

Pitts was angry about what he called a delayed response on the part of the fire department.

“They were slow,” he said. “They didn’t show up for about 20 minutes. If they would have showed up sooner, we might have been able to save some of the things in the house.”

“The people themselves were good,” Pitts added. “It’s the slack time that could have been improved.”

Pitts said he may file a complaint.

Beck said an Island County sheriff’s deputy was the first to arrive on the scene, followed quickly by five fire engines, three water tenders, four support vehicles and three medical responders.

Beck added that a fire truck was on the scene and firefighters were laying hose within 12 minutes of the initial call, according to fire district log entries.

“We had a great response, but every room was involved in flames when we arrived,” Beck said.

“He must be looking at some other numbers,” Beck added of Pitts.

“I understand he’s trying to find something, and I sympathize.

I wish we could have done more.”

The house, estimated to be about 20 years old, sustained an estimated $250,000 loss, Beck said.

Pitts said the house belongs to Jennifer Pan, of Seattle, who’s managing it for her parents, who lived there before leaving the island.

Beck said the fire appears to have started under the house at the rear. He said the fire investigation continues, but that suspicious circumstances have been ruled out.

Joshua Pitts said he was in Oak Harbor Saturday night for a triple feature at a drive-in movie theater and arrived home to find his house ablaze.

He said his brother was visiting his girlfriend at the time.

Pitts, a local landscaper, said he had rented the house two months ago and that his brother had recently arrived and currently is helping him do landscaping.

Joshua Pitts said he plans to be married in September, and that the house was to be their first home together.

He said he had intended to obtain renter’s insurance, but had none at the time of the fire.

He said he’s staying with his fiancé “until we figure out what to do next.”

Beck said firefighters spent a total of 11 hours at the scene.