SNOHOMISH, Wash. --
A fire that engulfed a mobile home killed two women and two school-age girls Tuesday morning in Snohomish, firefighters said.
Snohomish Fire Deputy Chief Ron Simmons said the women who were killed were sisters. The children were daughters of one of the sisters, he said.
Simmons did not release the names or ages of the victims.
The fire broke out about 7 a.m. at the home in a mobile home park at 1330 Ave. D, near Snohomish High School, about 25 miles north of Seattle.
Firefighter Chad Waters told The Associated Press the home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, three minutes after the fire was reported.
Firefighters found the bodies after knocking down the flames, Simmons said.
Simmons said the fire is considered suspicious and that authorities are treating the home as a crime scene because a cause has not yet been determined.
"Presently, we're trying to rule out possible causes of the fire," Simmons told reporters at a news conference.
He said investigators are looking at whether a furnace, wall heater or woodstove -- all found in the home -- could be the cause of the fire.
"Mobile homes are notorious, especially of that age," Simmons said. "We look at them as large ovens."
The manager of Snohomish Mobile and RV park, David Simpson, told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that the two women had recently moved into the home.
"It was two sisters and the one sister had two children. They just moved in last Friday," Simpson said. "From (when) I met them, they were very nice people."
Simpson said the sisters had recently purchased the home from a previous owner and that the home had been at the park for several years.
Simmons said a corps of chaplains will speak with firefighters, most of whom have children.
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