A plume of acrid smoke and the sound of helicopters hovering overhead marked the scene of a tragic, Thursday afternoon fire.

It was a few minutes before 4 p.m. when the first call arrived at East Pierce Fire and Rescue. When fire crews arrived just four minutes later at the fully-engulfed, single-wide mobile home – just off the intersection of Prairie Ridge Drive East and 147th Street East – they located a deceased male inside the burning structure. Two others sustained life-threatening injuries and were quickly transported by ambulance to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The blaze was in the Prairie Ridge neighborhood on the south side of Bonney Lake.

An EPFR press release noted that the deceased had been trapped inside the home while the others were able to escape the flames. Subsequent news reports indicated two adult sons were hurt and their father perished.

More than two dozen firefighters, including a mutual aid engine from Orting Valley Fire and Rescue, battled the blaze. The home was a total loss.

According to the East Pierce release, witnesses reported hearing explosions coming from the home during the fire. Department officials indicated it was probably ammunition or normal explosions that occur during a house fire.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Pierce County Fire Marshal’s Office and the PierceCounty Sheriff’s Department.