A GoFundMe page has been launched for a local musician who lost his home, vehicles and musical equipment in a house fire Thursday, Feb. 18.
Shortly before 9 p.m., crews from Fire District No. 7 (Riverside), Fire District No. 3 (Omak), Okanogan County Public Utility District, Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office and LifeLine Ambulance responded to a report of a structure fire at 207 Second St. “It was fully involved when we got the tone,” Fire District 7 Chief Justin Osborne said. “There were two people that lived in the house and another person lived in the RV on the property.”
According to the Okanogan County Assessor’s Office, the home was owned by Michael Duarte.
Osborne said Duarte estimates between $250,000-$300,000 in content loss.
“It was a big structure,” Osborne said. “He (Duarte) and the roommate both claimed that the source of the fire was electrical, started by a heater upstairs.”