ARLINGTON – Both of the victims who died in a fire in Arlington Jan. 19 have now been identified.
They were brothers Brian, 58, and Charles, 63, Wiley, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office reported.
The report says the cause of the accidental death was inhalation of soot and products of combustion.
The two men died in a mobile home fire in the 14200 block of Club Way near Arlington. The two bodies were recovered the day after the fire because of the danger to rescuers.
A neighbor first reported the fire around 9 p.m. Jan. 19, and witnesses who called 911 said they believed two people were still inside. Neighbors tried to enter the building, to rescue its occupants, but the fire had overtaken too much of the structure for them to enter safely.
“It was just completely engulfed in flames by the time we got there,” neighbor Robert Mott said.
Mott said two brothers lived in the mobile home for about 10 years. One brother suffered a brain injury in a car accident years ago, and the other became his caretaker.
Fire crews arrived around 9:30 p.m.
“It was apparent that it had been burning for some time before it was reported,” said Travis Hots, chief for the Arlington Rural and Getchell fire districts.
Power lines to the home had burned through before crews arrived. The downed wires were still live, creating an additional hazard.
“The fire was extinguished within the hour, and that’s when the bodies were discovered,” Hots said.
Detectives from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit arrived around midnight to assess the scene, but the Snohomish County Fire Marshal determined the structure was still unsafe to enter.
Detectives returned in the morning to continue the death investigation. Investigators made sure the roof of a burned-out mobile home was stable before they entered.
