Furniture store destroyed

LYNNWOOD – Fire destroyed a Lynnwood furniture store Thursday morning, causing an estimated $2 million damage and forcing closure of Highway 99 for hours.

The blaze at Furniture World, 19215 Highway 99, was discovered by Lynnwood police, who were summoned about 3:30 a.m. by a security alarm in the store.

When fire crews arrived, the building was engulfed in flames. Crews fought the blaze from outside because it was too dangerous to enter the building, said Marybeth O’Leary, a spokeswoman for the Lynnwood Fire Department.

Portions of the building collapsed before the flames were extinguished, she said.

Nobody was injured.

The city fire marshal has estimated damage at $2 million, O’Leary said.

She said crews were still on the scene late into the day investigating the cause. By midafternoon, no cause had been determined, O’Leary said.

Owner Jeff Raymond, 35, said recent vandalism to his property might have had something to do with the blaze.

He said he felt sick when he got the early morning call that his business was on fire.

“It was quite a shocker,” he said.

The store and its contents, valued at about $100,000, were insured, Raymond said. The building’s landlord intends to rebuild, he said.

In the meantime, Raymond will keep the store’s six employees on to manage a warehouse liquidation sale sometime soon.

Raymond has been in the furniture business in the Lynnwood area for about 15 years, he said. He owns a second store in Marysville.

By late morning, fire crews were attempting to remove rubble so investigators could begin work to determine the fire’s cause and origin.

In all, 48 firefighters battled the blaze using six engines and two ladder trucks. The Lynnwood Fire Department received assistance from Snohomish Fire District 1 and Edmonds.

Highway 99 was closed into the morning as crews continued to fight the flames and fire hoses stretched across the roadway. Lanes remained restricted near the fire, a precaution to keep speeds down because heavy smoke was still drifting in the area, O’Leary said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Lynnwood fire crews battled a mobile home blaze and assisted District 1 in fighting a home fire. Late Tuesday night, Lynnwood also assisted in the rescue effort when a teenage boy fell through ice into Martha Lake.