Woman drowns in Lake Tapps
LAKE TAPPS — A 21-year-old woman from Germany, visiting her father in Bonney Lake, drowned yesterday morning while swimming in the southern end of Lake Tapps.
According to Bonney Lake police Lt. Michael Strozyk, Denise Colbert, who lived in Olpe, Germany, was among a dozen or so friends who met at a party Saturday at a lake house.
A few people went out on a boat later that night. About 3 a.m. yesterday, Colbert and another woman decided to swim to shore. The other woman made it to the dock, but Colbert disappeared beneath the surface. Emergency crews were called, and divers found her body at 6 a.m., about 65 feet from shore.
Change in weather helps crews fighting forest fire
WINTHROP, Okanogan County — Washington's largest fire burning, near the Canadian border, did not grow yesterday, as clouds and higher humidity helped firefighters gain the upper hand.
The Farewell Creek fire, holding steady at 75,555 acres, is now 57 percent contained, said fire-information officer Howard Hunter.
"It has slowed down and it's just creeping at this point," he said.
Some crews were being sent home as clouds and higher humidity forced the fire to slow down.
Ten to 12 fire crews have been stationed inside the containment zone so they can be closer to the fire while they fight it, Hunter said. Meals were being flown in to them daily.
The Farewell Creek fire, started by lightning on June 29, was about four miles from the Canadian border. It has cost nearly $29 million to fight.
Seward Park residents find woman's body in bushes
SEATTLE — Residents of the Seward Park neighborhood yesterday found a young woman's unclothed body hidden among some bushes.
The discovery was made about 11:55 a.m. in the 4900 block of 54th Avenue South, about 6 feet from the road. Seattle police investigators declined to comment on what appeared to have caused the woman's death.
State hires new director for pipeline-safety office
OLYMPIA — The state has hired a new director of pipeline safety.
Alan Rathbun, an assistant director for the Department of Licensing, will oversee safety programs and inspections of petroleum and natural-gas pipelines.
Beginning on Aug. 25, he will work under the auspices of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, which regulates 29 pipeline companies and 21,000 miles of underground pipelines.
His salary is $73,000. He will oversee 13 employees, including eight inspectors, engineers, policy specialists and analysts creating maps of state pipeline routes.
For six years, Rathbun managed 193 employees and a $27 million budget in the state Department of Licensing.
Woman killed as travel trailer burns on Tulalip Reservation
MARYSVILLE — A woman was killed when a fire gutted a travel trailer on the Tulalip Reservation, tribal police and firefighters said.
The woman was found inside the burned-out 20-foot trailer after a 911 call on Saturday.
Police Chief Jay Goss said the fire early Saturday ripped through the trailer quickly.
"It is our preliminary belief that the fire was probably accidental," Goss said.
The woman is believed to be a tribal member who was staying in the trailer, Goss said.
Her identity was not released.
Investigators include reservation police; the Marysville fire marshal; the FBI; and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Remains at Mount Hood not those of missing snowshoer
GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. — Human remains found Saturday in the Zigzag Canyon area of Mount Hood are not those of Fred Frauens, a Portland snowshoer missing since March, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said. Searchers looked for Frauens' remains for a week this winter.
Times staff and news services