Whatcom County completes investigation of fatal Ferndale apartment fire ruled accidental
Furniture near a baseboard heater caused an apartment fire that claimed the lives of two Ferndale women on a freezing morning last month.
An investigation showed that the fire started in the living room of a second-floor apartment at 2145 Eastview Place, Whatcom County fire inspector Tiffany Honey told The Herald.
“The cause of the fire was furniture within close proximity to the unit’s heat source,” Honey said in an email.
Kristine Gregory, 53, and Sierra Johnson, 26, died as a result of the fire, which was reported at 7 a.m. Dec. 5.
Gregory died of smoke inhalation at the scene.
Firefighters rescued Johnson and took her to St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham. She died the next day of smoke inhalation and burns at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The fire caused about $200,000 in damage to the apartment off Vista Drive, north of downtown Ferndale.
National Weather Service records from Bellingham International Airport show that the low temperature was 31 degrees at Bellingham International Airport on the morning of the fire.
