By Brenda Starkey
Chronicle staff

     CURLEW – Three people are unaccounted for and two remain hospitalized following a blaze that destroyed the old schoolhouse apartments early Tuesday morning, Dec. 22.
     Amanda Ryken is in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle.
     Investigators planned to start sorting through the rubble Wednesday. Cause of the fire is under investigation.
     The missing residents, reported by one source to be two children and a woman, could have perished in the blaze that was reported at 1:12 a.m. Tuesday morning.
     Officials stopped short of saying the three had died, hoping that they had found refuge at some unknown location.
     They are simply unaccounted for, Ferry County Coroner Mike Sandona said.
     The Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at Curlew High School and was assisting some 30 displaced residents.
     The former school had been renovated and contained 26 apartments, 18 of which were occupied, fire officials said.
     Cash donations to help the displaced residents are being accepted at the Curlew Community Church, the Riverside Restaurant and the Curlew Store.
     Curlew Volunteer Fire Department stayed on the scene overnight and will participate in the investigation, Fire Chief John Foster said.