Derek Sanders said he was “absolutely sick to my stomach today after seeing this scene” after a 5-month-old infant died Tuesday afternoon in a car weather fire outside a Tumwater home. Thurston County sheriff’s deputies responded around 12:10 p.m. to reports of a vehicle fire near 93rd Avenue Southeast and Tilley Road Southwest.
Derek Sanders on the scene
Sanders said, “I am deeply sorry to the family and our first responders who had to experience this.” He also thanked “our chaplains for always showing up alongside us to support the families on the hard calls,” and added, “RIP little one.”
The fire involved a vehicle carrying three children. A 911 caller reported that the car was fully engulfed in flames with an infant still strapped in a car seat inside.
Tumwater home fire response
A father and his three children were preparing to leave their home when the father briefly stepped back inside, leaving the children in the running car. Smoke began filling the vehicle a short time later, and a 12-year-old child pulled a 2-year-old sibling out of the car and ran inside to alert their father.
By the time they returned outside, the car was fully engulfed in flames. The father, several neighbors and emergency personnel tried to extinguish the fire and rescue the infant, but the infant died at the scene. Several people who tried to help suffered burns and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Detectives and fire investigators
Detectives and fire investigators are working to determine what triggered the fire. The sequence now under review is short but critical: the children were left in a running car, smoke entered the vehicle, and the fire reached the infant before anyone could pull the child free.
