Young man dies in Bellevue house fire
Bellevue firefighters blame a cigarette for a fire early Saturday that killed a 21-year-old man and left his three roommates homeless.
It was the first fatal fire in Bellevue since a man was killed in a September 2006 house fire.
Everett Otteson and his fiancée awoke early Saturday to their roommate yelling, electronic equipment bursting and thick smoke pouring into the bedroom of the rental home.
Realizing the home was engulfed in flames, Otteson threw his 11-week-old puppy out the window, and he and his fiancée quickly followed. Three roommates, a houseguest, and two puppies were accounted for, but a 21-year-old roommate was nowhere to be found.
By the time firefighters arrived around 3 a.m., smoke and flames poured from nearly every window and door. Firefighters pulled the badly burned man from the home, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His name has not been released by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“It happened so fast,” said Otteson, 21, tears welling in his eyes. “It was utter chaos. I dove out face first.”
Bellevue Fire Lt. Eric Keenan said the blaze destroyed the home in the 1600 block of 152nd Avenue Southeast. Keenan said the victim was found on the floor between the bedroom and bathroom.
“It appears he tried to make an attempt to get out, but he couldn’t,” he said.
While Keenan said tenants told firefighters there were no working smoke detectors inside the home, Maya Atayan, who has owned the property in the Robinswood neighborhood with her husband, Aram, for more than a year, contradicted that.
The Atayans said the three-bedroom house was rented to four people in their 20s. She said the victim was on the lease, but she knew him only by his first name.
Otteson, who will be staying at a hotel until he finds a new place to live, said he awoke after another roommate yelled, “We’ve got a big problem.”
That roommate ran out the back door with a houseguest and their other 11-week-old puppy.
The victim had moved to the area from Wyoming about a year ago and worked as a detailer at Olympic Boat Centers, Otteson said.
The three male roommates had quickly become close friends. They had planned a special Christmas celebration, complete with matching flannel shirts and newly grown-out beards.
“He was just a really happy guy; it would take a lot to make him mad,” Otteson said. “He’s going to be really missed.”
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com