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.