Two Spokane County residents died from hypothermia in aftermath of windstorm

The death toll related to the severe Nov. 17 windstorm more than doubled Monday after the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office announced that three people died from hypothermia after losing electricity.

Marvin O. Skognes, 70, died from hypothermia after he became incapacitated from a heart attack, the medical examiner said in a news release. He was discovered Nov. 22.

Peter M. Jardine, 66, died after he had a stroke and was unable to seek help. He was found Nov. 29.

Another elderly man died from hypothermia in Idaho’s Bonner County, the release said.

The medical examiner’s office declined to provide more specific locations for where the victims lived. County property records indicate that Jardine owned a home in the 1600 block of East 40th Avenue in Spokane.

Many details surrounding the hypothermia deaths were unclear, but the news release said the two men in Spokane County died “as a result of windstorm caused power outages.”

The Nov. 17 windstorm knocked out power to more than 250,000 electric customers in the Inland Northwest. A week later, about 18,000 remained without electricity.

The deaths from hypothermia are in addition to two women killed during the windstorm. Lea Anne Scott, 54, was killed by a tree limb falling in her backyard on the South Hill, and Carolyn Wilford, 70, died near Cheney after a falling tree hit her car.

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who oversees Spokane County Emergency Management, said he had not been informed about the hypothermia deaths.

Mike Lewis, the integrated medical services director for the Spokane Fire Department, said he had been unaware of any hypothermia deaths related to the windstorm within the city.