Local woman dies in house fire

The Clark County Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a house fire that left one woman dead.

A 62-year-old woman died early Wednesday, at her residence on North Fork Road, approximately 12 miles east of Washougal.

Marlene Dorego’s house at 2232 North Fork Road was located off of Washougal River Road, in Western Skamania County.

The cause of death has not been released yet by the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The fire was called in by a security company shortly before midnight Jan. 6.

Skamania County Fire District 4 personnel arrived to find the single story residence fully engulfed. Crews from Skamania County Fire District 5 and East County Fire and Rescue also responded.

The ECFR units included squad 96 from Bear Prairie; water tender 94 from the Mount Norway fire station and engine 91 from the Fern Prairie station. They were on the scene until about 3:30 a.m.

Dave Cox, undersheriff for the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office, said Jay Martin, a caregiver for Dorego, was awakened by the sound of an audible fire alarm. Thick smoke had started filling the house, and he briefly saw Dorego before losing sight of her in the smoke.

Martin went outside and tried to gain entry from the back of the residence, but by then the house had become engulfed. Dorego and Martin were the only occupants of the residence at the time of the fire.

“It’s just a real tragic situation,” Cox said.

He described the home as a “fairly modern, triple wide modular.”

It was a total loss.

“Two exterior walls were standing,” Cox said. “It was burnt down to the framework.”

Dorego’s husband was working out of town when he got the call from ADT Security Systems.

The American Red Cross provided emergency assistance with food, bed linens, comfort kits and information on disaster mental health and disaster health services.