East Pierce Fire and Rescue firefighters had their hands full Thursday and Friday as they battled two residential house fires in less than eight hours.

The first fire was reported by a neighbor in the 5100 block of 178th Avenue East just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

No one was home when fire crews arrived and firefighters forced entry into the two-story house to find a fire in the bathroom on the main floor. Crews from the Valley Regional Fire Authority joined East Pierce to extinguish the fire and remove the bathroom ceiling to get to fire that had moved into the attic.

Fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was a malfunctioning exhaust fan in the bathroom. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

Due to heavy smoke damage, the residents were not able to return to the home.

The second fire occurred at 3 a.m. Friday at a newer home in the 20000 block of Church Lake Drive East.

Bonney Lake Police officers who arrived just ahead of the fire department reported seeing smoke and flames from an attached three-car garage. Firefighters from East Pierce were able to quickly put out the fire before it caused too much damage to a portion of the living space above the large garage.

The firefighters finished at the scene just after 6 a.m.

Investigators are still looking into the cause of the blaze. They estimated fire damage at $100,000.

No one was injured in either fire.