Teen, child killed in Lacey, WA mobile home fire
Community heartbroken after fire kills 2 children
Two children were killed in a fire in their own home in Lacey, leaving a family and community devastated.
LACEY, Wash. - An investigation is underway following a deadly house fire Tuesday morning in Lacey.
What we know:
According to the Lacey Police Department (LPD), at 2:11 a.m., crews with Lacey Fire District 3 responded to a mobile home fire near the corner of 21st Avenue Southeast and Westlake Drive Southeast. This area is just east of Chambers Lake.
The home was fully engulfed by the time emergency crews arrived. Lacey Fire District 3 said firefighters used defensive tactics to extinguish the flames.
"The fire conditions were so extreme that it was not a space where we could enter the structure. Fire was blowing out halfway across the street at the front of the house," said deputy fire chief Michael Cerovski.
After extinguishing the flames, it was discovered that a 17-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl had died in the fire.
Neighbors said they were horrified when they heard of the tragedy.
"Just brings tears to my eyes. Only God knows why things happen, the reason why," said Martin Madrigal, who lives in the mobile home community. "They were very great kids, very polite. Very nice. She would be riding her bike, playing with the kids, waiting for her friends to go to school. He would be walking his dog, kept to himself. Very nice people."
Officials said the children's mother, 44-year-old Sarah Bullington, was outside the home when firefighters arrived on scene. She was rushed to a hospital for burn treatment. Officials with Harborview Medical Center in Seattle confirmed Bullington was in satisfactory condition.
"It’s just a lot of loss. A lot of loss and I don’t know how she’s going to get through this," said Sarah Sullivan, a former neighbor who used to live in Bullington's mobile home. "Such a loving family and I just can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. I can’t."
Authorities believe the three were the only ones in the home during the fire.
What we don't know:
It's unclear how the fire started. Cerovski said the cause and origin of the fire would be determined in "a couple of days."
The fire district is working closely with Lacey Police Department and the Thurston County Coroner on the investigation.
What you can do:
Bullington is a certified nursing assistant for Harbors Home Health and Hospice. Bullington's employer informed FOX 13 that she did not have life insurance for her children or home insurance. Her coworkers started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help support Bullington's journey towards recovery and healing.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the fire to contact the LPD at 360-704-2740.
The Source: Information for this story came from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle and the Lacey Police Department.
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