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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, November 24, 2008 Fire victims' family thanks community for support By Jackson Holtz Herald Writer ARLINGTON – The foster family who lost two young boys in a weekend house fire thanked the community today for the love and support they’ve received. “They have wrapped their affection around our family and we are so grateful,” Mark Lee said in a brief press conference this afternoon. “We are devastated by the loss of our two boys.” The boys, 10 and 11, were both foster children. Smoke alarms alerted the family just before 11 p.m. Friday at the home in the 22800 block of 19th Drive NE. Fire officials determined a faulty outlet like sparked the blaze. They issued a preliminary ruling calling the fire accidental. Fire and insurance investigators returned to the charred remains this afternoon. Mark and Susan Lee explained what happened as the fire broke out in the home they were remodeling. The Lees and six children ranging in age from 19 to about 7 years old survived the fire. Two other adults also got out of the burning home. The boys’ names have not officially been made public. Both children had attended schools in the Arlington School District. One of the boys attended Marysville schools for about a year. Extra counselors met with students and teachers today, said Misti Gilman, a school district spokeswoman. Early Monday, the family issued a statement that tells their story of what happened. The Lees' college-aged daughter smelled smoke and was just about to investigate when she heard smoke detectors going off, the statement said. She went room to room on the upper level of the house, waking the family to get them moving out of the house. “If our daughter hadn’t been home from college, probably no one in the family would have made it out of the house,” the Lees said. “She was upstairs, heard the smoke detector go off and got most of the children awake and moving out of the house.” Mark Lee, a Juvenile Community Corrections Officer Supervisor with Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, was doing the same on the first floor. "When he realized the 11 year-old boy, who was upstairs, wasn’t with the others, he went up to find him,” the statement said. "He found him and yelled to him to follow him out. When he turned, he realized he wasn’t there, but the fire at that point was so intense that Mark had to go out to get air. He desperately tried to go back in, but was overcome by the heat and smoke. At no time did anyone realize the 10 year-old was still in the house." The boys' rooms were directly above each other in the northwest corner of the 4,000-square-foot house. Officials believe the fire started in the south end of the home, which was being remodeled to add more bedrooms. Susan Lee is licensed in foster care by both the state and Compass Health, which provides social services to foster children. She has worked with special needs children for the past 10 years, according to the statement. “We moved here a year ago so that we could have more land and a bigger home to continue our foster care," the statement said. “Our goal was to have a house big enough to support our foster children and have enough land to be able to let them work on projects and run and play. It is our hope to rebuild with the children we have in our care and to continue the therapeutic foster care of these special needs children. “We were extending the house to add more bedrooms so we could accommodate more foster children. Because of the level of foster care we do, each child needs to have their own bedroom.” The family said today they hope to rebuild the Arlington home. Anyone interested in helping the family can make donations to the Mark Lee Family Fund at any Bank of America branch. A community fundraiser has been scheduled for Dec. 3 at Presidents Elementary. Tickets can be purchased at Cascade Valley Hospital, Flowers by George or Fire Station 90, 3002 252nd St NE. North County Fire officials plan to meet with residents at 7 p.m. on Dec. 4 at Station 90 to talk about the fire. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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