By Brenda Starkey
Chronicle staff

     CURLEW – Remains of a grandmother and two children missing after a Tuesday morning fire at the old schoolhouse apartments may have been recovered Dec. 23.
     The Ferry County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday afternoon that what appear to be bones were recovered from the scene, but officials have not yet established if they are human or animal.
     A forensic anthropologist is being called in to make that determination, the sheriff’s office said.
     “We don’t have anything we can take to a medical examiner,” county Coroner Mike Sandona said, adding that a forensic anthropologist seems to be the best answer.
     They are believed to be human remains, but investigators need to be certain, the coroner said.
     The three were unaccounted for following a Tuesday morning blaze that left Amanda Ryken in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, and a man hospitalized.
     The man has not been identified.
     Fire investigators had to wait until the site cooled off Wednesday to search the rubble, officials said.
     Investigators included a fire investigator from Spokane and officials from the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Sandona said.
     The fire apparently started in the apartment where the remains were found, Sandona said.
     Investigators are satisfied there was no foul play, he said, but have not determined how the blaze started.
     Fire was still burning in places within the building Wednesday as investigators began sifting through the rubble, Sandona said.
     The fire apparently started in what was once the gym of the old school. That part of the facility had been converted into two-story apartments, Sandona said.
     The investigation will continue with questioning of residents and witnesses, authorities said.
     The scene has been released to the property owners, the sheriff’s office said.
     Ryken was listed in critical condition Wednesday in the intensive care unit at Harborview.
     The blaze, which was reported at 1:12 a.m. Tuesday morning, left the building uninhabitable, even though firefighters were able to save about a quarter of the building, officials said.
     The Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at Curlew High School Tuesday and assisted some 30 displaced residents.
     The former school had been renovated and contained 26 apartments, 18 of which were occupied, officials said.
     Cash donations to help displaced residents are being accepted at the Curlew Community Church, The Riverside Restaurant and the Curlew Store.
     Displaced residents are staying at temporary quarters in the Curlew Civic Center, officials said.
     It is not known where the displaced residents will live since there is a shortage of rental units in the county, officials said.
     A number of miners who came to the area to work at the Buckhorn Mine in nearby Okanogan County are living in area hotels because of a lack of rental units.
     The historic white school building behind the apartment complex was not damaged.