YAKIMA – An explosive fire in an apartment house killed one man and displaced about 50 other residents.
The cause of the fire about 8 p.m. Saturday was not immediately known, but there was an explosion in the unit where the man died, Deputy Fire Chief Charlie Hines said.
“We don’t know the cause yet and we’re not going to speculate,” Hines said. “The key is, there was an explosion prior to the fire.”
The victim was not immediately identified. An autopsy was planned today, Yakima County Coroner Maury Rice said.
Several tenants had to be rescued by firefighters, who used ladders to reach occupants on the second and third floors.
The old building was home to more than 50 tenants, most of them living on some form of disability or welfare.
Ashford: Avalanche victim was from Burien
A skier killed in an avalanche in an out-of-bounds area at the Crystal Mountain ski resort has been identified as a 54-year-old Burien man.
Stanley Lowell Quande died in a backcountry area of Mount Rainier National Park adjacent to the ski area, the park said in a news release Sunday.
The avalanche occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday when Quande and a male companion, identified only as D. Currie, were in an area that was roped off and marked as permanently closed to skiing, officials said.
While descending, Quande was caught in the avalanche, and was carried along on top of it for several seconds before he disappeared, the release said.
Quande, described as an experienced skier who knew Crystal Mountain well, was wearing a transponder, which helped rescuers locate him. But he was unconscious and not breathing and could not be revived.
Oregon: Plane lands safely on Interstate 84
An amphibious aircraft made an emergency landing on Interstate 84 Sunday due to poor weather, the Oregon State Police said.
Pilot Jerry Alan Scudero, 55, of Ketchikan, Alaska, and his passenger, Jerry Foresyth, 58, of British Columbia, were not injured, police said. Scudero told troopers he was headed to Alaska, but planned to make a stop in Pendleton.
Instead, the bad weather forced them to land about 15 miles east of Baker City. Trooper Robert Hereau was at the scene of a traffic accident when he spotted the plane, which had been taxiing on the freeway for about two miles, police said.
Hereau allowed the plane to continue eastbound until it found a wide enough area to pull off to the side of the freeway.
The plane resumed its flight when the weather improved, about three hours after the unexpected stop.
Woman’s ‘Rent-a-Wife’ service gets response
GRANTS PASS – Dawn Haney has advertised her “Rent-a-Wife” business for about two weeks now, and it’s getting some nibbles, not always the ones she wants.
Four responses rendered two clients for Haney, who says she will do housekeeping, meal preparation, laundry, windows, errands, help with bookkeeping and be a party hostess for single men.
Asked how far her wifely chores go, she said, in effect, “not that far,” that the business is legit.
“A gentleman wants me to come fold his laundry, do some odds and ends and he said he wants me to kill some bugs and bacteria,” she said.
But she got a call from one man who asked how much she charged. “He was looking for a companion. When I explained that wasn’t what I do, at least he was polite.”
“Another one called to ask if this was an escort service,” she added.
“I knew I was going to get stupid people calling.”
Associated Press
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