A fast-moving fire in an apartment unit claimed the life of a 50-year-old Bingen man Monday evening.
The fire victim was identified by the Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney's Office as Don Van Vliet. Van Vliet had lived in the apartment for about a year.
At about 5:15 p.m., the fire was reported in the 200 block of W. Humboldt at the site of the former City Center Motel in Bingen. Three former hotel units had been converted into apartments, and that is where the fire started.
Owen Andruss, who lived in an apartment adjoining Van Vliet's, said he smelled smoke and thought it was something in his own apartment.
"I got up but didn't see anything, and I didn't think it was a problem," said Andruss. "Then I saw smoke, but I couldn't find the appliance it was coming from. I went outside, and I saw a black wall of smoke next door. I pounded on the door of Don's place as hard as I could and screamed to the neighbors."
Andruss said he took a chair and smashed it through the window of the man's apartment.
"I wanted to be a hero, but with the smoke I couldn't see, and the heat forced me back," Andruss said.
Firefighters from Bingen and White Salmon were dispatched to the scene, as well as emergency medical teams from Skyline Hospital.
The first law enforcement officer on the scene, Ben Harvey of the Bingen-White Salmon Police Department, reported flames eight feet high coming from the building.
Bingen Fire Chief Dave Spratt said he lives only about a block from the fire scene, and by the time he got there the apartment was essentially already lost.
"That apartment was fully involved when we got paged out," Spratt said. "It was pretty much protect the other stuff at that point."
Spratt pointed out that the man's van was right outside his apartment, and it also caught on fire.
"It was a camper van and it had a propane tank inside. We got right on that," Spratt said.
As the blaze shot up from the roof of the apartment building, the house directly west of the apartments was in danger of going up in flames as well.
Spratt said the residence next door suffered damage and there was smoke inside, but it did not burn.
"It got hot enough to melt the blinds inside the window," Spratt said. "The siding on the house was a big help in keeping it from burning."
Andruss said Van Vliet lived alone with his dog.
"There was never a whisper from the dog, so we thought he wasn't home. I was hoping he was out," Andruss said. "His dog died with him."
Firefighters were on the scene until about 8 p.m. Besides the deceased, no firefighters or other individuals were injured in the fire.
According to Bingen-White Salmon Police Chief Bruce Brending, a Washington State Patrol hazardous materials investigation team was requested to respond to the scene on Monday night. No hazardous substances were located.
"There was concern that possibly, given the way the fire spread so rapidly, that there may have been a clandestine meth lab, so we had the state haz-mat team come up," Brending explained. "Two of their people went inside and confirmed it was not a lab, so there is no environmental concern as far as that part of it goes."
On Tuesday morning, a team from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms responded from Portland to help local officials with the fire scene investigation. ATF officials said it would take a couple days to complete their work. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Brending said it was standard to thoroughly investigate a fire scene when a death is involved.
"It appears to be accidental, but we need to be sure everything is as it appears," Brending said. "The ATF graciously decided to assist us."
Another of Van Vliet's neighbors, Thadeus Bookmyer, said the man's death was a tragedy.
"He was a good dude," Bookmyer said. "He had his knocks in the world, but he was a good dude."
The investigation is continuing, and no further details were available as of press time on Tuesday afternoon.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.