BELLINGHAM—Four members of a Happy Valley family were at Harborview Burn Center in Seattle Sunday, Jan. 1 after suffering serious burns and smoke inhalation in an early morning fire.

At Harborview, Joseph MacGregor was listed in critical condition. His wife Jennifer was in serious condition, as were daughters Willow, 10, and Summer, 13.

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, where Willow is in 5th grade.

Assistant Fire Chief Roger Christensen said fire fighters got the alarm at about 4:22 a.m. and arrived to find flames already billowing out of the west side of the home. Joseph MacGregor and a holiday house guest were outside. The badly-burned father had cut himself trying to break a window to get inside to his wife and daughters, Christensen said.

Firefighters got the mother and girls to safety through a bedroom window. All four family members were taken to Harborview after an evaluation at St. Joseph hospital.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation Sunday. 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 burned out most of the 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.

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.