Brenda Hinks hugs one of her cats, Sidney, outside her smoke-filled apartment in Lake Stevens on Wednesday. With Hinks is her mother, Betty Janes, who also lives in the apartment. Sidney was found inside the apartment by Lake Stevens firefighters. Hinks’ other cat, Tigger, was still missing.
Hinks was at work at Target in Lake Stevens when she heard fire engines leaving a nearby station and learned that her fourplex apartment building was on fire. The fire apparently started in the apartment of next-door neighbor Rhonda Althaus, who was at her job just a few blocks away waiting tables at Neapolis Greek and Italian restaurant. Althaus had to make other arrangements for a dozen or so tables she had been serving before she could run to the fire.
Janes and Hinks’ son, Jim, were in the apartment next door to Althaus’, when they noticed the heavy smoke and reported the blaze. The fire, according to Lake Stevens police, was not suspicious. It appeared to be caused by faulty electrical materials.
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