Holiday fun was marred by misfortune and tragedy Tuesday in Snohomish County, officials said.
A man drowned in Lake Stevens, another was injured in an Everett house fire and fireworks reportedly started other blazes that damaged homes in Mill Creek and Bothell.
The drowning victim, 22, of Bellevue died early Tuesday morning at a home in the 100 block of N. Davies Road. He had jumped into the lake from the roof of a boathouse, Lake Stevens Deputy Fire Chief Richard Adkins said.
Friends of the man found his body about a minute after he disappeared underwater, but paramedics and firefighters were unable to revive him, Adkins said.
The man’s identity was being withheld Tuesday pending notification of family.
Meanwhile, investigators suspect that illegal fireworks caused a fire that nearly burned down a home in the Silver Firs community east of Mill Creek, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.
Neighbors reported hearing fireworks shortly before the fire started about 2:30 p.m. The fire started on the roof of the two-story home in the 5600 block of 148th Street SE and burned down into the second floor, Hynes said.
Nobody was injured, but the fire displaced a family of three. Damage to the house was estimated at $350,000. The homeowners have insurance, Hynes said.
Investigators believe the fire started when an illegal firework was shot into the air and landed on the home’s wood-shingle roof, Hynes said.
“Usually, we do have some kind of fire (on the Fourth of July) that’s caused by fireworks,” she said.
Investigators also believe fireworks sparked a house fire about 11:45 a.m. in the 20800 block of 33rd Avenue SE in Bothell. The family of four escaped uninjured and plans to stay with neighbors.
The Everett Police Department is also investigating a fire that destroyed a slide at Clark Park in the 2500 block of Lombard Avenue about 3 a.m. Tuesday.
Neighbors reported seeing people lighting fireworks at the park, and fireworks debris was found at the scene, Everett police Sgt. Boyd Bryant said.
The 2:45 a.m. fire in Everett that left one man injured does not appear to have been caused by fireworks, but its exact origin was still under investigation Tuesday evening, fire officials said.
A man was hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation after flames swept through a house in the 7800 block of Beverly Lane, Everett battalion chief Dave Neyens said. The fire destroyed an upstairs bedroom and caused smoke damage to the house. It also burned part of the roof.
The injured man, a friend of the homeowner, was trapped in a bedroom near where the fire started, Neyens said. Firefighters led him to safety after the fire was out. The homeowner was uninjured.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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