Another child dies in a Mid-Columbia fire

Another child in the Mid-Columbia has died in a fire.

Firefighters were called about 3 p.m. Sunday to a manufactured home in the Coachman Mobile Home Park in Royal City about 45 miles north of the Tri-Cities.

A 5 year old apparently was trapped inside the home or otherwise unable to escape, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

An autopsy is planned.

Other people in the home were able to get out.

Two other mobile homes burned and a third was damaged in the park, where the homes are close together.

Royal City police are investigating the cause of the blaze.

In July, a 10-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl were killed when their family’s mobile home in Prosser caught fire.

The cause of that fire was blamed on an air conditioner overloading an electrical outlet. Their parents had left for work at nearby farms and a babysitter had not arrived, according to initial reports.

The home had not working smoke detectors. It’s unclear if the Royal City home had smoke alarms.

The Red Cross, fire districts and sheriff’s offices offer free smoke alarms and installation to residents of the Tri-City region who would otherwise go unprotected.

This story was originally published November 4, 2019 at 10:31 AM.