Fire leaves family in dire straits

Firefighter/paramedic Bob McComas works to extinguish a semitrailer fire Sunday. Arson is suspected in the blaze. (Capt. Kevin Murray/Vancouver Fire Department)

Fire victim Vicki Seaunier, 40, was in satisfactory condition Sunday night at Southwest Washington Medical Center.

But her world is anything but satisfactory.

With no rental home to go back to in Rose Village, Seaunier is not sure where her family will live next.

"I want to try to keep my family together," she said. "My kids aren't doing very well, emotionally."

The house at 3307 M St. is a charred hulk. It caught fire Saturday about 3:37 a.m.

Seaunier said the one-story house with basement was home to her boyfriend, Randy Rogers, 48; her daughters, Becca Rogers, 22, and Amanda Rogers, 19; Amanda's 7-week-old son Tyson Rogers; her stepson Zachary McLeary, 25; and her friend, Sabrina, whose last name she could not recall from her hospital bed.

"I woke up to a loud noise that sounded similar to an explosion," Seaunier said. "Randy ran upstairs to see what happened.

"He started screaming at the top of his lungs, 'Fire, fire, oh my God fire.'"

"It wasn't clear at the time if it was the house on fire or the garage," she said.

"I realized when I got to the top of the stairs that my house was pretty much fully engulfed in flames. And it was full of really black smoke."

In reconstructing the escape, she said Amanda, with Tyson, realized they could not get through the kitchen, so went back to her bedroom, shut the door, and tried getting out a window. But the windows in the house are high and Amanda was trying to lay Tyson on the ground with her body halfway out the window when Becca arrived and got Tyson.

Randy had been able to get out the back door and went to get Zachary, who was sleeping in the garage, to help, Seaunier said.

Seaunier continued, "I was really confused. I realized I couldn't make it out the front door or the back door."

She retreated to the bathroom and shut the door. "It was the farthest spot from where the fire was. I figured it was the safest place to go. I called 911 and told them … that I was trapped in the bathroom, on the main floor, on the north wall.

"The smoke was so thick in the bathroom, and the lights were out and I couldn't find something to stand on to get out the window, she said.

Randy, Zachary and a neighbor were trying to help her get out the window.

"I told Randy, you need to break this window," Seaunier said. "So the neighbor across the street was kicking the window. He kicked the glass out.

"He kicked it and kicked it and kicked it, but he couldn't kick the metal frame out. "I managed to find something with my foot."

And then, with help, she found her way onto a metal corrugated overhang and Firefighter Mark Bennett pulled her to safety.

She was the one with the worst injuries but said Sabrina also was hospitalized. Seaunier said she cut her left hand, has bruises on her knees and suffered smoke inhalation. Asked what she thought could have started the fire, Seaunier said, "I have no idea."

Vancouver Fire Department Capt. Bill Garlington said the cause is undetermined and that the fire started on the front porch. He said firefighters reported hearing popping sounds during the blaze.

Seaunier said the family has no renters' insurance.

"We've been having a rough time making it financially," she said, noting Randy was laid off from his job a year ago.

She said she works two jobs, including as manager of Captain Henry's Pirate Store at Lloyd Center.

Arson suspected in semitrailer blaze

Arson is suspected in a semi trailer fire Sunday evening. The trailer was disconnected from a tractor and parked in a field at 1804 N.E. 155th St., Vancouver's Garlington said.

Fire crews responded with two engines to extinguish the blaze that was not near any structures.

The alarm came in at 5:24 p.m. Damage was estimated at $5,000. There are no known suspects, Vancouver Fire Department Capt. Bill Garlington said.

Boy stabbed at party in Ridgefield recovering

A 16-year-old Clark County boy was recovering Sunday from a stabbing at a large Ridgefield-area party, authorities said.

Clark County sheriff's Sgt. John Horch said officials are not releasing the boy's name.

Horch said deputies were looking for a suspect Sunday.

The stabbing happened Friday night or early Saturday morning at 28610 N.W. 38th Court, officials said.

At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital notified the sheriff's office that a teenage boy had been brought into the emergency room.

According to a sheriff's bulletin, deputies responded to the hospital and learned the stabbing occurred at the Ridgefield-area address.

Deputies responded to that address, as well as a second location at 3827 N.W. 289th St., where they found numerous juveniles and young adults.

Both locations were secured as potential crime scenes.