ARLINGTON — When neighbors saw the flames, there was little to be done. They watched helplessly as fire tore through the mobile home Monday night.
“It was just completely engulfed in flames by the time we got there,” said neighbor Robert Mott. “I never witnessed anything like it.”
Two people apparently died in the blaze. Their bodies were removed from the rubble Tuesday afternoon.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The fire was reported shortly after 9 p.m. in the 14200 block of Club Way, said Shari Ireton, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
A nearby sheriff’s deputy reached the scene before fire crews. He described the fire as an inferno, said Travis Hots, chief for the Arlington Rural and Getchell fire districts.
Fire crews arrived around 9:30 p.m. though there was little to be done.
“It was apparent that it had been burning for some time before it was reported,” Hots said.
Power lines to the home had burned through before crews arrived. The downed wires were still live, creating an additional hazard.
“The fire was extinguished within the hour, and that’s when the bodies were discovered,” Hots said.
Mott lives down the street from the home where two brothers lived in the mobile home for about 10 years. One brother had suffered a brain injury from a car accident years ago, and the other became his caretaker. The brother with brain damage would walk along the street with his dog. Mott spoke to him a few times. After the dog died, he didn’t come out as often.
Their home was destroyed. Crews worked Tuesday to shore up the remnants so that investigators could enter and remove the bodies.
Sheriff’s office major crime detectives were at the scene before daybreak Tuesday, along with the county fire marshal.
Confirmation of the victims’ identities was pending from the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office as well as the cause and manner of death, Ireton said.
The fire was fought by crews from Arlington Rural, Getchell, and Granite Falls fire districts, Hots said.
Andrew Gobin: 425-339-3000 ext. 5461; agobin@heraldnet.com.
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