Firefighters find one dead in Toppenish house fire, investigate cause
TOPPENISH, Wash. - One has been found dead in a house fire after firefighters located a resident in the bedroom at the time of the fire.
Yakima County firefighters arrived on the scene of the fire located at 59302 US 97 in Toppenish around 10:09 p.m. Thursday to find a collapsed roof and fire burning from the roof and windows of the bedroom located in the back corner of the home according to reports.
A news release said the closest fire station is a volunteer station that was training at the time of the fire and crews responded quickly.
Neighbors told the fire officials they did not see the occupant leave the house.
Fire crews were unable to locate anyone on the initial search due to the roof collapse and heavy fire.
Reports said crews proceeded to search the house after aggressively attacking the flames inside and found one person dead in the back bedroom.
Firefighters extinguished the fire after parts of the house ceiling were removed.
The Yakima County Fire Marshal’s office and Yakima County Sheriff’s office (YSO) were called to the scene.
Yakima County Fire Marshal’s office and YSO are investigating the cause of the fire.
Officials estimate the fire caused nearly $65,000 of damage.
