horrible stuff. I knew this girl and the family. So sad.
Fatal fire may have started in mattress
Investigators, sources say, are looking into whether the Fremont fire that killed a woman and four children started in a mattress that came in contact with a light bulb.
As investigators focused on a possible cause of Saturday's fatal fire in a Fremont apartment, Seattle fire officials disclosed Monday that the first-arriving engine that failed to pump water was an older, backup model.
Investigators are examining whether the fire that swept through the apartment, killing a woman and four children, may have started when a mattress inside a closet accidentally came in contact with a light bulb, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.
The fire may have smoldered in the mattress and then exploded into flames after the closet door was opened, the sources said.
[...]
Fire officials previously said the 2008-model engine, stationed on Northwest Market Street, had been successfully tested that morning before the fire was reported at 10:04 a.m. Now it is unclear whether those tests were performed on the reserve truck, Engine 81 — listed in dispatch records that day as Engine 18 — or on the station's regular Engine 18.
[...]
Four people — Helen Gebregiorgis (Geb-beh-GEORGE-is) and her three children — lived in the apartment, according to Virginia Felton, spokeswoman for the Seattle Housing Authority, which owns the unit. Family members had gathered at the two-story home for a sleepover Friday night.
After the fire erupted on the first floor, Gebregiorgis, 31, grabbed her 5-year-old niece, Samarah Smith, and dashed outside, believing her younger sister was behind her with the other children. Instead, the sister and other youngsters apparently took refuge in an upstairs bathroom, Fire Chief Gregory Dean said Sunday.
Killed were Gebregiorgis' sons Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13, and Yaseen Shamam, 5, and daughter, Nisreen Shamam, 6; her sister, Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22; and a 7-year-old niece, Nyella Smith.
rest of article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012117376_fatalfire15m.html
RIP
Fatal fire may have started in mattress
Investigators, sources say, are looking into whether the Fremont fire that killed a woman and four children started in a mattress that came in contact with a light bulb.
As investigators focused on a possible cause of Saturday's fatal fire in a Fremont apartment, Seattle fire officials disclosed Monday that the first-arriving engine that failed to pump water was an older, backup model.
Investigators are examining whether the fire that swept through the apartment, killing a woman and four children, may have started when a mattress inside a closet accidentally came in contact with a light bulb, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.
The fire may have smoldered in the mattress and then exploded into flames after the closet door was opened, the sources said.
[...]
Fire officials previously said the 2008-model engine, stationed on Northwest Market Street, had been successfully tested that morning before the fire was reported at 10:04 a.m. Now it is unclear whether those tests were performed on the reserve truck, Engine 81 — listed in dispatch records that day as Engine 18 — or on the station's regular Engine 18.
[...]
Four people — Helen Gebregiorgis (Geb-beh-GEORGE-is) and her three children — lived in the apartment, according to Virginia Felton, spokeswoman for the Seattle Housing Authority, which owns the unit. Family members had gathered at the two-story home for a sleepover Friday night.
After the fire erupted on the first floor, Gebregiorgis, 31, grabbed her 5-year-old niece, Samarah Smith, and dashed outside, believing her younger sister was behind her with the other children. Instead, the sister and other youngsters apparently took refuge in an upstairs bathroom, Fire Chief Gregory Dean said Sunday.
Killed were Gebregiorgis' sons Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13, and Yaseen Shamam, 5, and daughter, Nisreen Shamam, 6; her sister, Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22; and a 7-year-old niece, Nyella Smith.
rest of article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012117376_fatalfire15m.html
RIP
