Residents displaced, dog dies in Mukilteo blaze

MUKILTEO — A dog died in an early morning fire Saturday that displaced the residents living in a four-unit Mukilteo apartment complex.

Firefighters from Mukilteo as well as Lynnwood and Snohomish County Fire District 1 were called around 3:45 a.m. to the 77 Sunset Strip Apartment in the 2300 block of Washington Avenue.

The fire was in a lower apartment unit on the backside of structure. When firefighters arrived, they found flames coming out of a bedroom window.

Mukilteo police officers woke up the people living in the apartment units.

Firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading, Mukilteo assistant fire chief Brian McMahan said.

There was limited smoke and fire damage to the upper unit.

“Using an aggressive fire attack from the outside to the inside and then later transitioning to interior fire attack helped stop the building from being a total loss,” McMahan said.

The complex was built in 1959 and did not have a sprinkler system.

The cause of the fire was undetermined Saturday and remains under investigation by the Mukilteo fire marshal, McMahan said.

The estimated loss is about $80,000 to the structure and its contents.

Snohomish County PUD cut power to the apartments and firefighters shut off the water due to broken pipes leaking.

The Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross was helping find temporary homes for residents.