ORONDO, Wash. — Newly released footage from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office shows the hectic early hours of the Chelan Hills wildfire and the moment a homicide investigation was launched in the aftermath.
“Sheriff’s Office!” a deputy is heard shouting while knocking on a door minutes after the fire was first reported. “There’s a brush fire, you’ve got level two evacuation.”
Body camera footage obtained by KIRO 7 shows deputies scrambling to evacuate homes just after midnight on July 4. They are seen going door to door as flames creep closer in the distance.
“I apologize for waking you up, but I just got to notify you,” a deputy told a homeowner. “This may be your only notice so just be prepared, okay?”
By that morning, the fire had grown to thousands of acres. Footage shows deputies manning roadblocks and turning cars away.
The following day, a death investigation began.
“I’m pretty sure there are human remains in that car,” a wildland firefighter told a deputy on patrol.
Thirty-two hours after the fire started, investigators on the lookout for a missing person found human remains in a burned-out car on the roadside.
“You got someone in there?” one deputy asked another.
“Yeah, I believe so,” the first deputy replied. “We are treating it as a homicide scene.”
The person was later identified as 69-year-old Robert Lister, who died while trying to escape the fire.
In all, the fire burned 10,000 acres and more than 100 buildings. In addition to Lister’s death, six firefighters were injured.
According to documents, investigators received numerous tips about a truckful of people spotted driving around, shooting fireworks out of a moving truck.
“And can you describe any of the kids?” a deputy asked a witness during a recorded phone call. “Were they hispanic, Black, white?
“I cannot,” the witness responded. “But I would actually say that they were more Ukrainian or Russian.”
They eventually came across social media posts of the people believed to be responsible. In addition to widely-circulated footage of them shooting fireworks, other images show the suspects posing with them afterwards.
Body cam footage from September 2 shows deputies arresting Michael Yakimov in Kent, 60 days after the fire started.
“You are under arrest for the fire in Chelan that you started, that killed a guy and burned down a hundred houses,” a deputy told him after reading him his Miranda rights.
Yakimov, 18, was the first of five suspects to be arrested.
A sixth suspect is still wanted.
The five have been charged with first-degree manslaughter, arson, malicious mischief and various assault charges for the firefighters who were injured.
Those who have been charged include Yakimov, Valentin Tabunscic (18) Julian Mikityuk (19), David Radchanka (19), and Mark Okhrimchik (19).
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