A Washington state firefighter who fought wildfires near the Canadian border lost his wife and three children after an early morning fire engulfed their new home.
By the time the first responders arrived at the scene of the tragedy in Benton City, Washington, the family's trailer was engulfed in flames. A nearby trailer also caught fire, but its owners were rescued.
«There was nothing we could do,» commented Ron Duncan, the Benton County Fire Department's 2nd District Chief.
«This is a very unfortunate case and confirms that smoke detectors save lives.»
Marcaria García-Martinez, 32, her daughters Luz García-Martinez, 17, Michelle García-Martinez, 6, and son Luis García-Martinez, 15, have died of asphyxiation from smoke poisoning, Benton County Coroner told CNN William Leach. He added that the family moved into the trailer on the day of the fire.
“It was their first night there,” he said.
At the time of their deaths, the head of the family, Raul Garcia-Santos, was about four hours away — battling the Palmer fire, which emergency personnel said had already covered about 17,988 acres in north-central Washington.
Presumably, the cause of the fire was an overload of the electrical circuit.
