The Kent Fire Department responded to two incidents last weekend and each involved a fatality.
According to a release from Deputy Fire Marshal Don Barberie at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday a 25-year-old Tukwila man was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle. The motorcycle struck a cinder block wall at the 10700 block of Southeast 232 Street on Kent’s Easthill.
According to witnesses, the man was driving up and down the street doing “wheelies” at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the motorcycle and struck the wall.
Kent Fire Department and King County Medic One emergency crews began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but were unsuccessful in resuscitating the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man was not wearing a helmet. The King County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the investigation.
The other incident occurred Saturday when an early morning house fire took the life of a 32-year-old man while house sitting his parent’s home on Kent’s Easthill according to Barberie.
At about 3 a.m. a King County Sheriff’s deputy noticed a strong smell of smoke while patrolling the 10900 block of S.E. 212 Street.
The deputy requested Kent Fire Department dispatched as he searched for the source of the smoke smell.
He discovered a house on fire and immediately upgraded the call to a “working fire”. He was told by neighbors that a man may still be in the house. The deputy attempted to enter the home, but was driven back by heat and smoke.
Kent Fire Department emergency units arrived within two minutes and found heavy flames and thick smoke through the roof on the back side of the house. Kent firefighters entered the home to extinguish the fire and search for any victims.
The 32-year-old man was found in a back bedroom unconscious and unresponsive. He was pulled from the house and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started on the driveway. The man died at the scene. The fire was brought under control within 20 minutes. The house sustained heavy damage.
King County fire investigators ruled the fire was accidental. Investigators determined the fire started in the kitchen when a burner on the stove was accidentally left on igniting combustibles on the burner. Damage to the home is estimated at $200,000. The house is considered a total loss.
