Updated March 11 with new information from Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Clallam County Sheriff Brian King reports that a 1-year-old child rescued from a trailer fire on March 9th is in stable condition as of the afternoon of Tuesday, March 11.
After looking at the trailer on March 9-10, investigators ruled that one of two refrigerators near the trailer’s front door caused the fire to begin.
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Clallam County Fire District 3 reports a five-year-old child has died and a 1-year-old toddler was seriously injured in a trailer fire Sunday night on the 1300 block of Gasman Road off Old Olympic Highway in eastern Port Angeles.
Clallam County Fire District 3 fire chief Justin Grider said emergency crews responded to the fire at 7:43 p.m. March 9th and despite efforts to stop it, one child was found deceased.
The second child was extricated from the trailer and transported to Olympic Medical Center with serious injuries, Grider said. The 1-year-old was later airlifted to Harborview Medical Center. The child’s status was unknown on Monday, according to Grider, as the Sequim Gazette prepared to go to press.
Sheriff Brian King said in an interview that to protect the identity of the family they’re not revealing the gender of the children.
King said that the incident remains under investigation, but as of Monday morning they don’t believe the cause of the fire to be criminal in nature.
An adult was outside of the trailer prior to the fire, he said, and his chaplain helped facilitate family members’ travel to the hospital.
Fire crews with District 3 and Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue arrived at the fire at the same time under a mutual aid agreement for the area.
Grider said the trailer fire was fully involved when crews arrived and there were no other injuries reported from the fire.
The fifth wheel appeared to be permanently occupied and sat by a few other structures at the time of the fire, Grider said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by both the fire district and Clallam County Sheriff’s Office with a team of investigators on scene throughout Sunday and Monday.
“We’re getting closer and closer to the origin of the fire,” King said.
“Our hearts go out to the families affected by this unimaginable loss,” Grider said.
“We are committed to uncovering the cause of this incident and supporting those in need.”
He urges the community to remain vigilant and adhere to fire safety guidelines to prevent future tragedies.
Fire District 3 initially responded to the fire with three fire engines, two water tenders, a community paramedic, two command units, 11 volunteer firefighters and one fire investigator.
Grider said several off-duty personnel and volunteers came back to staff CCFD3’s stations to cover additional calls for service while on-duty crews were on the active fire scene.
Due to the traumatic nature of the incident, Grider said there will be a voluntary debrief session under the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) protocol this week to support first responders through the incident’s psychological impact.
At the scene, Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue also responded with one engine, two command units, one squad and five volunteers, and East Jefferson Fire Rescue, also part of a mutual aid agreement, with one engine, an ambulance and command unit. Olympic Ambulance brought two ambulances and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office had two deputy cars and one supervisor on scene.
