COUPVILLE – A woman was rescued from her burning apartment early Sunday by police and Island County deputies, Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue Chief Joe Biller said Monday.
The woman was trapped in her bedroom by intense smoke, Biller said. Officers reached in and pulled her through the first-floor window, he said. Her daughter was able to get out through the back door. Both suffered smoke inhalation.
About 50 people were evacuated while firefighters extinguished the blaze at the Cambey Apartments, 50 N. Main, Biller said. The fire was reported shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday.
A sprinkler in the burning apartment helped keep the fire from spreading, Biller said.
“I’m convinced that we would have had a couple of fatalities without that sprinkler,” he said.
Officers also rescued a woman from a nearby apartment, Biller said. She was not injured. A cigarette apparently started the fire, which caused an estimated $20,000 in damage.
Arlington
Man dies in accident: A man was killed early Sunday when his van struck a utility pole near the intersection of Stanwood-Bryant and Tronson roads, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
The man, 38, was headed east on Stanwood-Bryant Road north of Arlington shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday when his van struck the pole, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said Monday.
Mill Creek
House fire traced to cigarette: A fire that caused at least $90,000 damage to a home in the Martha Lake area early Sunday was apparently caused by a cigarette, fire officials said Monday.
The fire in the 500 block of 164th Place SE was reported shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday, Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.
The three family members at the home were alerted by smoke alarms and escaped unharmed, she said. The blaze left the home uninhabitable, and the Red Cross is assisting the family.
The fire was most likely caused by a misplaced cigarette in the front bedroom, Fire Marshal’s office investigator Gary Bontrager said.
Snohomish
Man crashes car, tries to flee: Police arrested a Lake Stevens man early Monday who allegedly led officers on a short chase on Airport Road before he crashed his car and ran into the woods.
A Snohomish officer was trying to arrest the man on warrants for drug possession, bail jumping and possession of drug paraphernalia when police say the man sped away.
After a short pursuit, the man lost control of his car and crashed, police said. He crawled out of the driver’s side window, then allegedly ran through thick brush and into a 3-foot deep creek.
Police caught him, and he was arrested on the warrants and on suspicion of eluding an officer. The man was treated for hypothermia before he was booked into the county jail.
Island County
Fire burns out family: A woman and her two children escaped before fire gutted their home at 834 Larson Road in Greenbank Sunday, Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue Chief Joe Biller said Monday.
The woman twisted her ankle on the way out of the house, but the children weren’t hurt, Biller said. The fire caused an estimated $180,000 damage.
From Herald staff reports
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