Source The Bellingham Herald, Wash.
Jan. 01--BELLINGHAM -- Firefighters rescued a mother and her two daughters from their blazing Happy Valley home early Sunday, Jan. 1, and they and their father were taken to Harborview Burn Center in Seattle with serious burns and smoke inhalation.
The blaze occurred after 4 a.m. in a small, one-story home at 1208 24th St., about two blocks south of Happy Valley Elementary School.
Assistant Fire Chief Roger Christensen said firefighters got the alarm at about 4:22 a.m. and arrived to find flames already billowing out of the west side of the home. The father and a holiday house guest were outside, and the father had cut himself badly trying to break a window to get inside to his wife and daughters, aged 10 and 13.
Christensen said firefighters got the mother and girls to safety through a bedroom window. All four family members suffered burns and smoke inhalation, and were taken to Harborview after an evaluation at St. Joseph hospital.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation late Sunday morning. Christensen said it may have started in the living room, on the west side of the home, where the house guest was asleep on a sofa. He was awakened by the fire and escaped without injury.
The fire appeared to have burned out the entire west wall of the house, and flames came up through a portion of the roof. The heat was intense enough to turn a nearby wooden slat fence to cinders.
The names of the injured people were not immediately available.
Firefighters from South Whatcom Fire Authority assisted Bellingham Firefighters in extinguishing the blaze.
In a press release, Fire Chief Bill Boyd noted that although firefighters train for these types of rescues, they are very rare in Bellingham. He commended the quick action by the first fire crews on the scene.
"Our hearts go out to this family during this time of crisis," Boyd said.
