Body found after house catches fire north of Bothell

BOTHELL — A woman’s body was found early Tuesday inside a home destroyed by a fire.

Fire crews were summoned shortly after midnight to the 1900 block of 172nd Place SE in unincorporated Snohomish County, Snohomish County Fire District 7 spokeswoman Autumn Waite said.

Smoke and flames were coming from the house. Neighbors told firefighters they feared the homeowner was trapped inside. Crews made the grim discovery in a bedroom on the second floor, Waite said. No one else was at the house at the time of the fire.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Tuesday but the woman’s name and cause of death were not released.

Investigators from the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was started accidentally by smoking materials. The fire began in the bedroom where the woman’s body was found, Waite said.

Almost two dozen firefighters battled the blaze, she said.

On Tuesday afternoon, light smoke still could be seen rising from the house. Second-floor windows were boarded. Damage to the house was estimated at $300,000.

The tragedy stunned the small neighborhood where many families have lived for years, said neighbor Michele Komen. She just turned out the light about midnight and was getting ready to go to sleep when one of the family dogs began to bark. Komen and her husband threw some clothes on and went outside. They saw the house across the street engulfed in flames.

Other neighbors took in a cat and a dog that belonged to the victim, Komen said.

The fire awakened Rod Hambrecht, who lives with his family across the street. He said flames were shooting up almost 40 feet, illuminating the houses in the cul de sac.

Hambrecht didn’t know his neighbor.

He kept out of the way to give room to firefighters working on the narrow street.

“It was really bad,” he said. “It’s weird when something like this happens so close to home.”

Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.