NorthwestJuly 10, 2008

Suspicious fire proves fatal
Suspicious fire proves fatal

MOSCOW - Linda Strunk, an 88-year-old rural Harvard woman, died Wednesday of burns suffered in a house fire at her home on Quartz Creek Road in Latah County.

Authorities have called the fire suspicious.

Linda Strunk's son, 56-year-old Dallas Strunk, is sought on a bench warrant as a person of interest.

The Tuesday night fire burned the two-story Strunk home to the ground. Linda Strunk and her husband, Willard H. Strunk, lived at the home.

"We have a person of interest and his name is Dallas Strunk," Latah County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Rhonda Bunney said. "His last known residence is in Moscow, and the last we knew he was driving a gray Volvo."

Anyone with information about Dallas Strunk's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's office at (208) 882-2216.

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Linda Strunk, after being taken by ambulance to Moscow's Gritman Medical Center, was flown to Seattle's Haborview Medical Center. A spokeswoman Wednesday night said Linda Strunk died at 10:55 a.m.

Dallas Strunk was arrested three years ago in connection with four suspected arson fires, according to court records, including an alleged attempt to burn his parents' house. He pleaded guilty, according to records, to one charge of second-degree arson and was sentenced to jail time already served and 10 years' probation. Wednesday's arrest warrant was for an alleged probation violation, according to records.

Fire crews from the Potlatch Rural Fire Department and Bennett Lumber Company fought the fire to no avail as it quickly rendered the home to ashes. Millard Strunk, 88, who was treated by EMTs at the scene east of Harvard, said he went out the back door of the house around 7 p.m. and returned shortly after to find the back porch on fire. He said his wife was inside and couldn't get the front door open. No information was available on how Linda Strunk exited the house.

In June of 2005, Dallas Strunk was arrested by sheriff's deputies at a campsite near Vassar Meadows between Deary and Bovill. Authorities had been searching for him for a week.

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Johnson may be contacted at deveryone@potlatch.com or (208) 883-0564.

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