Bellingham sees second fatal house fire in 3 days, as woman dies in Columbia neighborhood
For the second time in less than three days, an accidental Bellingham house fire proved deadly, as a woman died Tuesday afternoon in a Columbia neighborhood fire.
The two deaths are the first due to house fires in Bellingham in more than two years.
Bellingham Fire Department crews were called at 2:04 p.m. Feb. 16 to the 3000 block of Victor Street, just west of Northwest Avenue, after multiple callers reported seeing flames and smoke coming from windows in the lower level of the home, department spokesperson Dustin Michaelis told The Bellingham Herald.
While en route to the fire, firefighters did not receive reports that anybody was inside the home at the time, Michaelis reported, and they arrived to find smoke and flames coming from the backside of the house.
Firefighters went inside right away to fight the fire, Michaelis said, and were able to knock down the flames relatively quickly. It was then that they found the body of the deceased woman.
“We never knew anybody was inside — that information came at pretty much the same time we found the victim,” Michaelis said.
Fire investigators have ruled the fire accidental, Michaelis said, believing a daisy chain of electrical plugs — or a string of surge protectors plugged into other surge protectors — ignited the fire.
The identity and age of the victim has not yet been released, as officials attempt to notify family.
The deadly fire comes after a man died in a King Mountain neighborhood fire Sunday morning. That fire also was ruled accidental.
According to The Bellingham Herald’s archives, the two deaths are the first due to fire in Bellingham city limits in more than two years since a deadly house fire Feb. 10, 2019, in the Samish Hill neighborhood.
Whatcom County had two fatal home fires in 2020, as an elderly woman in a wheelchair was trapped in a March 10 fire north of Ferndale and a woman died when the recreational trailer she was living in was destroyed by fire Jan. 15 near the North Fork Brewery.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 7:33 PM.
