Lab to get evidence in fatal Redmond fire

Fire officials have completed their investigation into Saturday's fatal blaze that killed a father and his four young sons, and have sent evidence they collected to the State Patrol Crime Lab for analysis, said Officer Greg Twentey of the Redmond Police Department.

The fire broke out around 2:30 a.m. New Year's Day in a ground-floor unit at the Sammamish Ridge Apartments and quickly spread to the two units above. Friends and relatives identified the victims as David Thompson, 32, the father who perished, and his sons Tristan, 12; David, 6; Leviticus, 4; and Wyatt, 2.

The mother of the three younger boys, Lilly Reasor, 31, managed to escape the fire with minor injuries but was so distraught that three firefighters had to hold her to keep her from running back inside the burning unit. The eldest boy, Tristan, was Thompson's son from a previous marriage.

As of Monday, Reasor was listed in stable condition at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, said spokeswoman Sherry Grindeland.

Grindeland said Monday that Reasor's relatives from Colorado were making their way to the Seattle area.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office was still working to confirm the identities of the victims Monday and had not yet ruled on their official cause of death.

A law-enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said the fire does not appear suspicious. Investigators are looking into the possibility the blaze was caused either by smoldering cigarette ashes in a bathroom wastebasket or from ash inside a marijuana pipe that was placed inside a bag and hung on the bathroom door.

The source said Thompson and Reasor had spent part of Friday night celebrating the new year by smoking marijuana in the bathroom.

According to neighbors, Reasor, Thompson and their children moved to Redmond about a year ago to make a fresh start. Thompson's moving company in Colorado had failed, and the couple had other financial setbacks. Thompson was working as a maintenance man at the apartment complex and had recently tested to become a firefighter.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.