Community Police & Fire

Medical Examiner’s Office identifies one of two victims found after 14th Avenue fire

The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Oliverio Huitron-Rosalez as one of the two people found dead following an April 8 fire on 14th Avenue NW near Gig Harbor.

Huitron-Rosalez was 64 years old. The Medical Examiner’s office listed cause and manner of death as “pending.”

It is not clear from the Medical Examiner’s brief report whether Huitron-Rosalez lived at the home on the 15600 block of 14th Avenue NW. The report lists Huitron-Rosario’s home as “unknown.”

In a video posted immediately after the fire, a Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson noted that neighbors said the home was “newly rented.”

After extinguishing the fire, investigators found two bodies in the home. Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deputy Carly Cappetto said after the fire that at least one of the victims “did not die from the explosion or fire and it was not a natural cause of death.”

On Thursday, April 10, investigators announced that they are seeking security footage from the neighborhood around the home.

Investigators are specifically looking for footage showing traffic or suspicious activity along 14th Avenue NW and 160th Street SE between 7:15 and 8:15 p.m. that night. The fire was reported around 8 p.m. Tuesday. 

Click here to upload footage.