Having three people die in fires in one week is not common in Whatcom County. In fact, it wasn’t even a full week — it happened in five days plus a few hours. “It is rare,” Bellingham Fire Department Assistant Chief Bill Hewett told The Bellingham Herald this week. “It is abnormal, that’s for sure. For all of Whatcom County — all the cities and out in the county — we might see one fire death in a year. But three in one week? That’s very abnormal. But this has been an extraordinary week.” According to data provided by Whatcom County Health Department Communications Specialist Melissa Morin, the county had 12 deaths that were due to fire or burns in the 11 years from 2007 to 2017 — the most recent year data has been finalized. There were only three years during that stretch with multiple fire- or burn-related deaths — including five in 2013 — but from 2015 to ‘17 there was only one.