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STANWOOD – Firefighters kept a blaze from destroying a house Thursday after a passerby saw smoke and called 911.

The fire broke out about 9:40 a.m. in the 20800 block of Frank Waters Road. Firefighters discovered flames shooting out the back of the house. No one was home, fire department spokesman Capt. Christian Davis said.

The blaze was extinguished before it could spread, though there was heavy smoke damage, Davis said. The Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross assisted the family.

Everett: Woman dies from burns due to fire

A woman who was severely burned after she likely fell asleep with a lit cigarette died Wednesday afternoon, a fire official said Thursday.

Valarie G. Callaghan, 56, died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle from burns to 85 percent of her body, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her death was ruled an accident.

Callaghan was discovered early Wednesday inside her apartment at Broadway Plaza in Everett. Fire officials believe her nightgown caught fire after she fell asleep with a cigarette. A neighbor rushed to her aid and extinguished a small carpet fire near Callaghan.

No one else was hurt in the fire, which was contained to Callaghan’s apartment.

Man charged with drive-by shooting

A Snohomish man was charged Thursday with drive-by shooting for allegedly pulling up to a woman’s house in Snohomish and firing three shotgun blasts into it.

The residents, a woman and her son, were not home Nov. 26, but a witness noticed a gold BMW in the driveway, and heard a man say “pull” each time he pulled the trigger.

Police arrested Cornelis W. Floor as he was leaving the area. They found a shotgun, a box of ammunition, expended shell casings and empty beer cans in his car, deputy prosecutor Janice Albert said. He also was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm because of a previous felony conviction, Albert said.

Albert said Floor had been obsessed with the woman.

Mill Creek: 19-year-old is jailed after stabbing

A 19-year-old man is behind bars, accused of stabbing a Bothell man after they argued over the victim’s jacket.

The man turned himself in at the Mill Creek Police Department about noon Thursday after learning that police were looking for him, Mill Creek detective Sean Conner said. He is under investigation for first-degree assault.

The Bothell man, 26, is recovering from his injuries. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after the stabbing, with wounds to his chest and back.

The stabbing happened about 6 a.m. Wednesday outside the Country Club Condominiums in the 15000 block of Country Club Drive. The men arrived there together to visit someone and were leaving when they began arguing.

The argument may have stemmed from ownership of the victim’s jacket, Conner said.

Police are still waiting for the victim to recover to interview him, Conner said.

Everett: Sheriff’s office seeks robbery suspect

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man who robbed a Cascade Bank branch in the Haggens store in the 8900 block of Market Place Nov. 28. The suspect passed a note to a teller demanding cash, police said. The note said he was armed.

The man is described as white, in his 40s with blond hair and about 5 feet 11 inches tall. He was wearing a stocking cap during the robbery.

Anyone with information may call the sheriff’s office tip line at 425-388-3845.

Snohomish: Sleeping driver’s rig goes off road

A truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and ended up sideways off the shoulder of Highway 9 Thursday morning, the Washington State Patrol said.

The big rig drifted off the right shoulder of the northbound lane near 148th Street NE about 11:30 a.m., according to the patrol. The truck rolled off the shoulder and struck a power pole, ripping open the side of the truck and spilling its cargo of recycled appliances.

Nobody was injured.

The state Department of Transportation funneled traffic onto the southbound lane for two hours while a tow truck pulled the rig back onto the road.

From Herald staff reports

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