YAKIMA — A house fire in Union Gap that killed three people in the early morning Nov. 27 appears to have been caused by heater, fire officials said.
Yakima Fire Department Capt. Jeremiah Stilley said the fire started where an imitation leather chair was pushed up against an in-wall heater. No foul play is suspected, he said. The home did not have a working smoke detector.
A preliminary autopsy revealed the cause of death to be smoke inhalation, Yakima County Chief Deputy Coroner Marshall Slight said.
The names of the deceased are Lucio Sanchez Hernandez, 28; Bernice Hernandez Baca, 29; and one-year-old Daniela Sanchez Hernandez, Slight said.
