Press release:

At about 4 a.m. this morning Valley Com Dispatch Center began receiving numerous reports of a fully involved house fire with people trapped at the 3900 block of South 238 St in Kent.

The neighborhood is just east of the Des Moines city limits.

A part of the South King Fire & Rescue fire district. The first arriving emergency crew reported a fully involved house fire with heavy flames and thick smoke showing.

South King also serves Des Moines.

The crew found two residents in the front yard who had escaped the fire and who told the crew there were still two trapped in the house.

The crews quickly attempted to enter the structure to rescue the trapped people inside but were driven back by the flames, heat and thick smoke. Minutes later the fire was knocked down enough that the emergency crews were able to enter the house and attempt a rescue. They quickly found the 2 trapped residents, a 69 year man and his 19 year old grandson, who were dead.

The residents who escaped have been displaced by the fire and are receiving housing and other assistance from the Red Cross.

Emergency units from Kent and South King Fire Departments and King County Medic 1 responded to the early morning blaze. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries fighting the fire. One was treated and released at the scene. The other was treated and released from a local hospital.

King County Fire Investigators are investigating the cause of the fire along with the assistance of South King Fire Investigators. There appeared to be no working smoke alarm in the home at the time of the fire. No damage estimate