The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the man killed in a fire Saturday at a former Motel 6 as Christopher D. Schoenwald.
The 32-year-old man’s cause and manner of death are listed as pending in the medical examiner’s news release.
Improperly discarded smoking materials caused the fatal fire Saturday in a room at the former motel in east Vancouver, which is being used as a quarantine and isolation site for people exposed to COVID-19.
Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said the fire started and was confined to ground floor Unit 133. No evidence suggests that the fire was caused intentionally, as has been rumored by acquaintances of the Schoenwald, she said.
“If there is new information that comes to light, we will look at all of those facts, but nothing indicated (an intentionally set fire),” Scarpelli said.
