Newly released 911 calls reveal the frantic search for Robert Lister, 69, who was found dead after the Chelan Hills Fire broke out on July 4.
Lister’s stepdaughter, Raylene Kocher, called 911 just after the fire broke out. She told a dispatcher her husband and son narrowly escaped, with Lister following them.
“He was behind us when we left and no answer,” Kocher told the dispatcher. “His house was all engulfed.”
Friends and neighbors also called 911, expressing concern for Lister.
“He was a fishing buddy,” said one caller who told the dispatcher he had known Lister for 20 years. “I talked to him Saturday morning, and he said everything was okay up there, but then the last I heard, he had to evacuate.”
“We just think one of the burned-out cars might be his,” one of his neighbors told a dispatcher. “We just can’t get ahold of him.”
Five of six suspects charged in Chelan Hills Fire that killed Orondo man
Lister’s body was found in a burned-out car. The Orondo man had his two dogs with him as he tried to escape the Chelan Hills Fire, which authorities say was started by a group of young men setting off fireworks from the back of a pickup.
Investigators said Roman candles fired from that truck ignited dry grass along U.S. 97.
Five of the six suspects have been arrested and charged with crimes including manslaughter and arson.
The fire burned more than 10,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures.
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
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