Two-alarm fire kills one man in Everett

EVERETT, Wash. — UPDATE: The victim has been identified as 58-year-old Steve Andvik.

ORIGINAL STORY:

An early morning fire on Sunday tore through an Everett bar, killing a man in an upstairs apartment. The flames were so fierce, firefighters didn't find the victim until they had put out the fire.

The fire broke out just after 12:30 a.m. on Broadway in Everett on the floor above a bar that was still open.

Even hours after this fire broke out, the terrible damage done to the second floor of this building is obvious. That's the part of the building where people lived.

Scroll down to continue reading

More news from KIRO 7

• Police: One dead from gunshot wound at Renton WalmartPeoples March
• More exposure sites named in southwest Washington measles outbreak
• Robbers caught on video twice in one day stealing cash at gunpoint
• Hormel recalls more than 220,000 pounds of Spam
• Do you have an investigative story tip? Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP

Pictures show just how destructive the fire was. Everett firefighters arrived as flames ravaged the second floor, right above Harvey's Pub and Grill at 3615 Broadway.

"They arrived and the second floor was completely involved in flame," said Everett Assistant Fire Marshal Steve Goforth.

He said the bar was evacuated. But they were told someone in a second-floor apartment might not have made it out. The fire was too hot to look for him until it was extinguished.

"And, unfortunately, then we were able to get back up in there," he said. "And that was when the deceased was found."

A resident said the victim was visiting him. He declined to talk to us on camera except to say his friend was a "great guy."

Renai Anderson stood outside the charred remains, taking pictures. This was her first glimpse of what is left of this building that figured so prominently in her childhood.

"Nothing I would have expected," said Anderson.

Seeing it like this, moved her to tears. Her grandfather opened the original Buzz Inn Restaurant here in 1972, she says, when she was just 2 years old.

"So I would go next door and he'd make my French toast every morning for me," she said of her grandfather. "And then I'd sit on the shuffleboard table. And I'd shoot the shuffles down. Right here."

And it hurts, she agreed, to see it like this.

"It does, it does," Anderson said. "And trying to figure out what started it and the loss of life is always sad."

Firefighters say the fire likely started on the southwest corner of the second floor. It does not appear suspicious.

Everett fire officials say it could be several weeks before they know exactly what caused this fatal fire.

As for whether the owners will rebuild, it may take some time for us to get that word as well. The apartment manager says they are, right now, out of the country.

Cox Media Group