Saturday vigil planned for woman killed in strip mall fire

Friends and family are planning a Saturday evening candlelight vigil to mourn and remember a Vancouver woman who was killed in a Sunday morning fire at her workplace.

Firefighters Sunday recovered the body of Amy Marie Hooser, 47, in the burned ruins of a Sifton-area strip mall food mart, where she worked. Firefighters arrived to an active fire at the Sifton Plaza, at 13412 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., around 5:40 a.m. Sunday. The complex also had a Texaco gas station barber shop, pet supply store and pet grooming business.

Officials later found the fire was set intentionally, and that Hooser died of smoke inhalation and blunt force injuries to the head. Hooser was a manager at the Oasis Food Mart at the four-unit retail complex. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the fire as a homicide.

Michelle Schultz-Linker, a friend to Hoover and her family, is organizing the vigil while the family handles other issues.

Hooser, Schultz-Linker said, was “a ball.”

“She was the sweetest girl. I mean, full of life, bubbly. Fun-loving, outgoing. She as a real real sweetheart,” she said. “I’ve never heard a bad thing said about her.”

Hooser had three daughters, Schultz-Linker said, and she had only just gone back to work after missing a month or so for an emergency surgery.

She had been working at the convenience store for several years before the fire, Schultz-Linker said.

The vigil is set to start around 7 p.m. Saturday at Diamond R Fast Tracks And Go Karts, at 13510 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. Schultz-Linker requested that guests bring their own candles. Organizers are sharing information on the vigil through an event page on Facebook, under “Amy Hooser Candlelight Vigil.”