Port Angeles mother, son injured in morning house fire

PORT ANGELES — A mother and her young son were taken to a Seattle hospital after they were burned in fire in their home.

Deeanna Rosanbalm and her 6-year-old son, Roman, escaped the fire Sunday morning at 820 W. Sixth St., but both were badly burned, according to firefighters.

Rosanbalm and her son were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment.

Rosanbalm was discharged, according to the Harborview nursing supervisor on Monday.

Her son’s condition was not available because his last name is different from his mother’s, and the information was not released publicly.

Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen said the boy’s name cannot be released because of patient privacy laws.

Rosanbalm’s boss, Cheryl Winterfeld at Seaport Salon & Spa, said Rosanbalm had burned her hands while saving her son, who is in a wheelchair, from the flames.

“We told [Rosanbalm] to take as much time as she needed — the important thing is for her to take care of herself and her family,” Winterfeld said.

“They are all up there in Seattle just trying to comfort Roman.”

The house is owned by Rosan-balm’s sister, Angie Berglund, who was out of town at the time of the fire.

The Port Angeles Fire Department was dispatched at 6:06 a.m. Sunday.

Both mother and son were outside by the time firefighters arrived, McKeen said.

Several pets still were missing on Monday.

Although Berglund and her husband, Shawn, live at the residence, neither was home at the time, McKeen said.

“This fire is not suspicious — we have determined that it was accidental, but we are still continuing to investigate what the cause of it was,” McKeen said.

The fire was started in the living room and was primarily contained there, but the rest of the house suffered heavy smoke damage, he said.

“They had the fire out fairly quickly upon arrival,” McKeen said.

The split-level residential home did not appear burned from the outside, and the only exterior evidence of the fire was a boarded up window.

But the house is uninhabitable because of the damage.

Two engines from the Port Angeles Fire Department responded, McKeen said.

“Clallam County Fire District No. 2 also backfilled for us at the fire station at the time of the fire so that there was someone there,” he said.

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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.

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