EVERETT — Officials say they don’t know what caused a fire Saturday that killed one person, destroyed an apartment building and left more than 30 people homeless, including small children.
“We’re continuing to look at it, but I just don’t know if we’ll be able to find anything definitive,” Everett Fire Marshal Glen Martinsen said Monday.
The eight-unit apartment building on Lombard Avenue just south of the Snohomish County government complex burst into flames just before 6 a.m. Saturday. Fire crews worked to smother the blaze until just before noon, Martinsen said.
The building was heavily damaged, and likely will be torn down soon, he said.
The Snohomish County medical examiner conducted an autopsy Monday on the person who died in fire. The victim’s name was expected to be released today.
Everett police still are treating the fire site as a crime scene, but there’s no evidence that arson was the cause of the fire, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
“Because it was a fatal fire, we are treating the scene as a crime scene until we determine otherwise,” he said.
Police investigators finished collecting evidence at the scene on Saturday, Goetz said. The investigation is continuing, he said.
The Snohomish County Red Cross helped nearly all the families who lived in the building with money for food.
In total, 33 people, including children and infants, lived in the building, Red Cross spokesman Kris Krischano said.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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