Help sought for family displaced by Christmas Day fire

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published December 26, 2009

Comments (0)

The West Thurston Regional Fire Authority seeks clothing and food donations for eight family members who were left homeless after a chimney fire destroyed their Rochester home on Christmas Day.

Today, some members of the Fultz-Valenta family of Rochester were staying with relatives, while others were with Maggie Fultz-Valenta, the owner of the house. She also owns a home in Seattle, she said. Her parents, three brothers and two nieces lived in the Rochester house, she said.

The family members had just finished their Christmas Day dinner and were watching the children play with their new toys when they realized a fire had started in the chimney and spread to the roof, Fultz-Valenta said. The house is in the 6200 block of Prather Road Southwest.

�It went in, like, five minutes,� Fultz-Valenta said about the time it took for the 90-year-old, 900-square-foot, two-story structure to go up in flames.

�We lost everything,� she added.

The family escaped safely, although one of her brothers was treated at Providence Centralia Hospital and released because of a minor burn to the face.

The house had working smoke alarms, but they likely didn�t detect the fire because it started in the chimney, said Lt. Lanette Dyer, a spokeswoman for the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. The house was not insured and was described as a total loss.

The American Red Cross has provided food vouchers for the displaced family members, who still need warm clothing such as coats, school clothes and food. For information about how to help, call Lt. Lanette Dyer, a spokeswoman for the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority, at 360-352-1614 or 360-701-4593.

Similar stories:

Rochester-area fire kills livestock, destroys barn
Rochester-area fire kills livestock, destroys barn

A fire that broke out about 1:45 a.m. today killed livestock and destroyed a family’s barn, according to the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.
Also according to the fire authority:
Firefighters responded after flames were seen at the 1,200-square-foot barn, in the 21700 block of Old Highway 99 in Rochester. West Thurston, Tenino Fire, McLane/Black Lake Fire and the Riverside Fire Authority responded. The fire’s cause is being investigated. The barn is a total loss.
Morning fire destroys barn, kills livestock
Morning fire destroys barn, kills livestock

A fire that broke out about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday killed livestock and destroyed a barn, according to the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.
According to the fire authority:
Firefighters responded after flames were seen at the 1,200-square-foot barn, in the 21700 block of Old Highway 99 in Rochester. West Thurston, Tenino Fire, McLane/Black Lake Fire and the Riverside Fire Authority responded.
Buildings collapse, 2 injured in powerful NZ quake
Buildings collapse, 2 injured in powerful NZ quake

Chimneys and walls crumbled to the ground, roads cracked in half and residents were knocked off their feet as a powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake rocked New Zealand's South Island early Saturday. The prime minister said it was a miracle no one was killed.
Only two serious injuries were reported from the quake, which shook thousands of people awake when it struck at 4:35 a.m. near the southern city of Christchurch. There were reports of some people trapped inside damaged buildings - though none appeared to be crushed by rubble - and a few looters broke into some damaged shops in the city of 400,000.
Power was cut across the region, roads were blocked by debris, and gas and water supplies were disrupted, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said. Chimneys and walls of older buildings were reduced to rubble, and Parker warned continuing aftershocks could cause masonry to fall from damaged buildings.
Coroner: California doctor suffocated in chimney
Coroner: California doctor suffocated in chimney

A doctor whose decomposing body was found in a narrow chimney suffocated after she tried to get into the home of her boyfriend, authorities said Wednesday.
The body of Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac was found Saturday - three days after she slid feet first down the chimney of the Bakersfield home, police said.
"The pressure being placed on the chest wouldn't allow her lungs to expand and she suffocated," Kern County sheriff-coroner spokesman Ray Pruitt said after an autopsy.
Capitol Forest brush fire extinguished
Capitol Forest brush fire extinguished

Fire crews extinguished a half-acre brush fire Sunday in Capitol State Forest, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Fire crews from the Department of Natural Resources and the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority, and a water tender from McLane Fire and Life Safety, responded to the fire, called the Dark Horse Fire, on a spur road off of the D-4000 line about 9:30 a.m., according to Andrew Kondrack, a firefighter/EMT with West Thurston Regional Fire.
Department of Natural Resources reported that two engines, an excavator, two camp crews and two overhead crews responded to the fire.