Man killed in house fire identified

PARKER, Wash. — The Parker man found dead after a Sunday house fire has been identified as Jack Strawn.

Yakima County Coroner Jack Hawkins confirmed the victim’s identity this morning. The 72-year-old man was the home’s owner and only occupant.

The Yakima County fire marshal’s office is investigating what caused the fire that was reported about 2:25 p.m. Sunday and destroyed the single story house at 170 Main Street, behind the Parker post office.

The fire appears to have been accidental, said Ron Rutherford, a Yakima County deputy fire marshal.

When firefighters — 26 from the Lower Valley and Union Gap — arrived, flames engulfed the home and threatened a neighbor’s house, Capt. J.J. Ihnen said in a news release.

When authorities located Strawn and confirmed that he was dead, all operations changed to keep the fire from spreading to other properties, Ihnen said. Many items both inside the home and in the front yard hindered firefighters’ work in the dark. Mop-up work wasn’t completed until 8 p.m.

Firefighters said they had been called to the home before to help Strawn with problems related to his home oxygen equipment.