Blaze damages Lynnwood apartment

LYNNWOOD -- A fast-moving fire ripped through a Lynnwood apartment building Monday, leaving about 35 families homeless and causing an estimated $3 million in damage.

It appears as if a deep fryer sparked a blaze on the second floor of the Lynnview Apartments, police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said.

Firefighters arrived to find flames eating through the roof of the north building. The fire swept through four floors. Dangerous conditions inside forced firefighters to fight the blaze from outside.

The heat could be felt across the parking lot, even hours later.

It took 60 firefighters about 90 minutes to get the fire under control.

"This is a tricky fire," Sessions said Monday. "There are electrical wires crossed and exposure" to the second building in the complex.

Everyone was able to escape the apartment building. No injuries were reported.

Annie Wilson said that when the fire broke out she knocked on every door she could until the smoke forced to her to flee.

"It was too much," she said. "It was already engulfed." At least five apartments were gutted while several others were heavily damaged by flames, smoke and water.

It's likely the whole building will have to come down, Lynnwood Fire Marshal LeRoy McNulty said.

Residents living in a second building on the south side of the complex also were forced to leave because of heat and heavy smoke. They were allowed to return later in the evening. Four nearby businesses also were emptied as a precaution.

There are about 60 apartments in the two buildings, located in the 5800 block of 200th Street SW.

John Krouck was at a nearby gas station when he saw a plume of smoke coming from the building where he's lived for three years.

"I turned around and saw the smoke and immediately came here to see that I was about to lose everything," Krouck said.

He was worried that family heirlooms were destroyed in the blaze.

"I am one of the ones who's burned out, but as a Christian, Job has been through far worse," Krouck said Monday evening.

People who lived at the Lynnview Apartments gathered to console one another. Some were worried about the fate of their pets. Others said they were only thinking about where they will live now that their homes are destroyed.

Emergency workers with the Snohomish County chapter of the American Red Cross were on scene to assist people with temporary housing and other necessities.

Across the street, Darlene Fulson hugged family and friends while she waited for a wheelchair to get to the Red Cross station. She was at home when the fire broke out.

"My son came rushing in with the neighbor and said the place was on fire, so we just left," she said.

Fulson was OK, clutching her purse tight and awaiting news on a place to stay.

Brenda Chavez said she was just starting her new life.

After a year living in an Edmonds motel, she moved into the building about three months ago with her cat, Resin, and some friends.

"We were sharing the rent, and it was getting better for us," she said.

She spent Monday evening waiting in a parking lot across the street, watching the smoke billow from her new home. She had just bought new furniture and a big-screen television.

"I hadn't even hooked it up yet," she said. "I didn't even have the cable on ... now everything is gone."

She didn't know if Resin escaped.

Wilson, who had warned her neighbors when the fire broke out, huddled in an oversized cream sweatshirt she had pulled from the donations box. Most of her stuff was in storage, but her ex-husband, whom she was staying with, wasn't so lucky.

"My ex lost everything, pictures of his kids ... everything," she said.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.