LAKEWOOD, Wash. — One person was found dead in an abandoned building that caught fire in Lakewood Wednesday morning, according to the Lakewood Police Department.
It's too early to say if the death was suspicious, according to police. Officers began a death investigation following the discovery. There is no information on the victim's identity.
West Pierce Fire and Rescue responded to the fire in a vacant commercial building around 7:20 a.m. on Gravelly Lake Drive SW.
Flames could be seen coming from the building.
The fire was extinguished by 9 a.m. The building was not safe to enter initially, but the building was later searched and the body was found inside, according to police.
West Pierce Fire and Rescue Arson investigators, Lakewood Police Department detectives and forensics were dispatched to the scene.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Gravelly Lake Drive was closed from Lake Grove Street to Mt Tacoma Drive SW, according to West Pierce Fire, but reopened around 1:30 p.m.
A fire also broke out in Olympia Wednesday morning, damaging four buildings and impacting a dozen local businesses.
These fires occurred the same morning that two fires broke out in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood and multiple vehicle fires in Tukwila.
