SMOKEY POINT — While a Feb. 5 apartment fire only resulted in smoke damage and one displaced resident, a Feb. 7 mobile home fire was followed by the death of that structure’s resident.
Smokey Point fire evacuates senior housing, no lives lost
Marysville Fire District personnel responded to a commercial structure fire at 3:05 p.m. Feb. 5 at 18330 Smokey Point Blvd. in Arlington.
When they arrived, they found most of the residents of the senior housing apartment at that address had already evacuated the building, and no smoke was visible.
In the apartment, flames were coming from the stove. Crews rapidly extinguished the fire with a pressurized water extinguisher, and the fire was contained to the stove.
One resident was displaced and is staying with family. The fire caused approximately $3,000 worth of smoke damage to the apartment.
“The lesson here is to get out, stay out and call 9-1-1,” said Kristen Thorstenson, public education specialist and public information officer for the Marysville Fire District. “They did that. Don’t try and fight the fire, and check your smoke alarms monthly. This apartment’s working smoke alarms helped get its residents evacuated.”
Thorstenson noted that residential fires are more likely during the winter, due to cooking and heating.
Mobile home lost in fire, resident dies afterward
Marysville Fire District personnel responded to a residential fire at 2:59 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Twin Cedars Mobile Home Park, at 8515 State Ave. in Marysville. While en route, dispatchers relayed reports that the residence might be occupied. A column of smoke could be seen from blocks away, and the first crews to arrive found approximately one-third of the single-wide mobile home engulfed in flames, as well as power lines down across the residence and roadway. During the primary search, crews found and removed the resident, but he did not survive.
“The last fatality we had from a fire was in July of 2004,” said Thorstenson, who estimated the mobile home was a total loss, at approximately $23,000.
Fire crews from Marysville, Everett, Lake Stevens, Getchell and Tulalip Bay all responded, for a total manpower of 29, and personnel from the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office and Fire District 1, as well as the Marysville Fire District and Police Department, are conducting the investigation.
“Be sure to practice a home fire escape plan,” Thorstenson said. “If anyone in your family has special health care needs, be sure to consider that in your plan.”
As of press time, the official causes of the fire and the resident’s death have yet to be released.
