GRANGEVILLE — Investigators have not yet determined the cause of a house fire that claimed the lives of two people in Grangeville on Thursday.
Jason Blubaum, deputy Idaho state fire marshal, said Monday a report on the house fire at South Meadow Street is expected to be released to the public this week.
Brett Lyons, 63, and Mary Lyons, 88, died of smoke inhalation in the fire that was reported about 10:10 p.m. Thursday by a passerby, Grangeville Fire Chief Brian Perry said.
Moments later when firefighters arrived on the scene, the fire “was in its infancy,” Perry said.
“The fire was lacking air,” Perry said. “It hadn’t blown out a window yet. I think the fire had been working for a while but the house was so compartmentalized and it was so well built” that the flames didn’t move around quickly at first. When the heat finally did blow out a window, he added, the fire spread rapidly.
Both victims were sleeping on the ground floor of the two-story house. Perry said there were smoke alarms in the residence but none of them had batteries.
Thirteen members of the Grangeville Volunteer Fire Department responded to the alarm, Perry said, along with emergency medical technicians, Grangeville police and Idaho County Sheriff’s officers and Avista workers.
