Name released in fatal house fire
Tom Jones, Grant County Sheriff
MOSES LAKE - Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison released the name and cause of death of the person discovered in the aftermath of a house fire.
Eric R. Puck, 31, Moses Lake, died in an early morning fire Sunday at a manufactured home on Road J Southeast, about eight miles south of Moses Lake.
An autopsy performed Wednesday evening under Morrison's direction revealed the cause of death to be smoke inhalation. The manner of death was ruled accidental, Morrison said.
Fire investigators are ruling the fire cause as undetermined, and have located the origin of the fire as the manufactured home's living room, sheriff's spokesman Kyle Foreman said Thursday.
Puck's body was reportedly found in the master bedroom.
"To Mr. Puck's family and friends, I am very sorry for their loss and I pray they are able to find some comfort in knowing we have worked very hard to find the cause," Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones stated.
Grant County Fire District 5 Battalion Chief Rick Wentworth said two engines, five water tenders, three command officers and about 17 personnel responded to the house fire at about 12:05 a.m. Sunday.
"The fire was pretty heavily involved by the time we got there," he said, explaining the alarm was delayed because Puck, the sole occupant of the home, never made a 9-1-1 call.
The neighbors made the call after hearing an explosion and going outside to see the house engulfed in flames, Wentworth said.
Fire crews managed to contain the blaze and keep it from spreading to the neighbors' nearby home and property.
Along with Puck, two small dogs perished in the fire, Wentworth said, adding another dog apparently managed to escape the fire or was outside when the fire began.
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