Two More Bodies Found In Apartment Ruins Investigators Plan To Sift Through Rubble For Cause Of Fire That Left 150 Homeless

Two bodies were found Friday in the rubble of a charred apartment complex, bringing the known death toll from the fire to three and leaving two people unaccounted for.

The bodies were found as authorities searched for clues to the cause of the inferno that turned the 140-unit Kona Village Apartments complex into a blackened shell and left 150 people homeless early Thursday.

One body was found while firefighters were still fighting the blaze. That victim, whose body was burned beyond recognition, still had not been identified Friday.

One of the bodies found Friday appeared to be male, Fire Chief Al Duke said from the scene. Both were found in the building’s southwest corner, where authorities believe the fire began, and were burned beyond recognition. Dental records will be used to confirm the victims’ identifies, Duke said.

Autopsies on the three will begin this morning, said Kitsap County Coroner Ted Zink.

He said one victim may have been identified, but the person’s name was not released because family members could not reached.

Search efforts have been hampered by dangerous conditions at the site, but authorities have made some progress. Eleven of the 15 people originally considered missing have been accounted for.

The search for bodies will not be “a very pretty process,” said Bremerton Police Chief Paul Du Fresne. Any bodies still to be found will have been “severely damaged” and difficult to spot, much less identify, he said.

Du Fresne, flanked by federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials, on Friday briefed reporters gathered outside the sealed entrance to the charred complex, which stood against a bright blue sky.

Margaret Moore, special agent in charge of the ATF, insisted agents had no reason yet to suspect arson as a cause, but declared the site a crime scene as a matter of policy.

Phyllis Mann, a spokeswoman for Kitsap County Emergency Services, said relatives of the missing people had been contacted, and they in turn had contacted other relatives and friends in an attempt to locate the missing.

Mann declined to give ages, genders or other details about the missing people. Four search dogs on Thursday sniffed out areas of possible human scent, but found no remains.

In nearby St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, survivors and friends mingled with Red Cross workers and townspeople bringing clothing and other aid to the victims.

All of the homeless had found places to stay, authorities said. Many of the residents were near retirement age or older, and many lived on fixed-incomes.

About 40 residents were rescued from upper-story units, officials said.

Bremerton Fire Chief Al Duke said the complex lacked exterior fire escapes, a central alarm system, water sprinklers and firewalls or other dividers in the attic, all required under fire codes adopted after it was built in 1971.