In a tragic and ironic incident a firefighter lost his entire family in a house fire while he was busy tackling wildfires.?
Raul Garcia-Santos of Benton City, Washington, was out fighting the wildfires raging close to the Canadian border when his own home was destroyed by a fire that took his wife and three children.
His 32-year-old wife Marcaria Garcia-Martinez, 17 and six-year-old daughters Luz and Michelle, and 15-year-old son Luis, all died in the fire.?According to reports, Benton County Coroner William Leach confirmed that the cause of death was asphyxia due to smoke inhalation.
The family¡¯s trailer was destroyed by the time the emergency services arrived at the location on August 27.?"There was really nothing we could do,¡± CNN quoted Ron Duncan, chief of Benton County Fire Protection District 2 as saying.?
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The fire raged so bad that it burned another trailer that was close by although firefighters were able to rescue the occupants of the second home.
Reportedly, Mr Garcia-Santos and his family had only just moved into the trailer and that it was, their first night staying there.
When the tragedy occurred with his family the brave father and husband was around 200 miles away in Okanogan County battling the Palmer Fire.?
A GoFundMe was set up to help fund the funerals after the deaths.?
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The post on the fund reads - ¡®A family of 4 passed in a house fire they have no family here in the state of Washington just close friends. I'd appreciate any help that we could get.¡¯
Currently more than 600 people have donated, with over $32,000 having been raised.
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