Fire claims family of 3

All three members of a Bonner County family – including a 5-month-old boy – were killed in an early morning fire Monday.

Sagle Fire Chief Rob Goodyear said the single-wide mobile home on Fish Creek Road, southwest of Cocolalla Lake, was engulfed in flames when a neighbor reported the fire at about 3:30 a.m.

After the fire was extinguished, the bodies of 35-year-old Jayson Mitchell, 24-year-old Brandy Post and the couple’s infant son were found inside the home, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office said.

Goodyear said it appears the family was overcome by heat and smoke. He said the bodies were found in the same area.

He said the cause of the fire appeared to be electrical. It originated near the washing machine and dryer, he said.

Neighbor Robert Knowles said he didn’t know about the fire until a deputy knocked at his door before dawn.

Knowles said Mitchell was a drywall installer who had his own business. He described Mitchell and Post as “hard workers.”

He recalled Mitchell fixing up his driveway by hauling load after load of rock and spreading it by hand. Knowles said Mitchell also worked hard to fix the family’s mobile home, repairing the roof and putting in new doors and windows.

“It didn’t look like much on the outside, but it was real nice inside,” he said.

Knowles said he believed the two had been married for less than a year.

“They were just really a nice, happy couple,” he said.