Investigators look for evidence in fatal Snohomish fire

SNOHOMISH – Investigators this morning continued to comb through the charred remains of a Snohomish mobile home where four people were killed in a fire Tuesday morning.

“They are going through the entire trailer so they don’t miss anything,” Snohomish Police Sgt. Jeff Shelton said.

Household items were being brought outside today, reminders of the lives that were lost. They included children’s toys, a child’s car seat and a stroller with seats for two.

Maria “Sandra” Montaño, 28, died along with her daughters, Ashley, 7, and Yareli, 4, and her sister Petra “Claudia” Montaño, 25, a brother, Miguel Angel Montaño Reynaga, said. The whole family was from the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The girls’ father has been dead for years, officials said.

The sisters bought the nearly 40-year-old mobile home on Sept. 8 for a reported $4,000, according to county property records.

Neighbors said the family moved in over the weekend.

The fire broke out just before 7 a.m. Tuesday at the Snohomish Mobile Home and RV Park along Avenue D.

A specially trained dog detected signs of a flammable accelerant at the scene, but it is too early to know whether the blaze was deliberately set, officials said.

Investigators are calling the blaze suspicious.

Teams from Snohomish Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Washington State Patrol crime lab were collecting evidence.

“An incident like this is a tragedy for the entire community,” Shelton said.

Overnight, several people came to see the charred remains of the home and offer condolences, he said

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