PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The case where two men were found dead at the scene of a Vancouver four-plex fire is now being investigated as a murder-suicide, the Vancouver Police Department announced Thursday.
Authorities previously described the deaths as “suspicious,” with emergency personnel having entered the complex after the flames were quelled and found the two men’s bodies where the fire had started.
Vancouver police and firefighters responded to the scene around 12:30 a.m. on June 25 near the corner of E 16th Street and Grand Boulevard after multiple 911 callers reported hearing gunshots followed by smoke and fire.
Police said when they arrived at the home in the Harney Heights neighborhood, they evacuated the neighboring units. The Vancouver Fire Department said firefighters found flames raging from the front and back of a second-floor apartment.
The fire, which took 25 firefighters to put out, scorched the home and spread to the attic. It was extinguished within half an hour.
Two men were then found dead where the fire began, officials said.
Multiple agencies immediately started investigating the fire, including VPD’s arson team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. On Thursday, VPD announced the case had become a murder-suicide investigation.
Officials released no other details on Thursday.
The Clark County medical examiner is working to determine an official cause of death. Neither of the men have been identified.
The investigation is ongoing.