Pierce County house fire kills person, leaves couple searching for new home

BUCKLEY, Wash. — A Pierce County house fire killed a person and left a couple searching for a new home.

A spokesperson for East Pierce County Fire and Rescue said a mobile home was engulfed Sunday night.

Fire crews began battling the fire just after 10 p.m.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Paul Nyland told KIRO 7 News 66-year-old Allen Crook, who died in the fire, was a close friend.

“Not only did I lose a friend, I considered him family. I considered him like an uncle,” he said.

Nyland said he and his girlfriend had lived with Crook for the past three years and developed a close relationship with him.

“Just cherish your loved ones. You never know when their time is coming,” he said.

Nyland told KIRO 7 News that the fire destroyed all of his and his girlfriend’s belongings.

“We have no place to go. We don’t have any clothes. We don’t have no food. Nothing,” he said.

“My heart is shattered in a million pieces right now because of it for him, for his girlfriend, for Allen’s family, for him, he’s gone,” said Krystal Nyland, Paul’s sister. “They (brother and girlfriend) took really good care of him. He was an elder. They took good care of him.”

Krystal said Sunday’s deadly fire is not the first tragedy the family has faced this year.

She said her home caught fire last March, which was located on the same property as her brother’s home.

“I just had a house fire and lost everything and my dog. My dog meant everything to me. And then to have them experience it. My brother, now he’s out of a home,” she said.

Paul said the fire killed several of Crook’s cats.

Fire officials have yet to confirm that information with KIRO 7 News.

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