Woman severely burned in RV fire
Published 1:30 am Friday, March 27, 2026
A woman suffered severe burns all over her body in a fire in Clinton Thursday morning.
South Whidbey Fire/EMS responded to reports from multiple callers about an RV fire which appeared to have spread to another structure around 8 a.m., according to a release. When Fire Chief Nick Walsh arrived on scene, he found the blaze contained to the RV and requested an ambulance and a helicopter for the burn victim.
Battalion Chief Joe Burbank said the fire occurred on a property off Highway 525 across from Dairy Queen.
Ten department personnel aided in fighting the fire, caring for the victim and preparing the helicopter’s 100-foot-by-100-foot landing zone at Dan Porter Park, according to Burbank. Firefighters got the fire under control in the first five to 10 minutes of arriving, he added; the department remained at the scene for more than an hour, mainly awaiting investigators.
Burbank observed a “column of black smoke” from the highway as he drove to the fire, which he explained indicated the fire continued to burn “well.” By the time he parked his vehicle, the fire emitted “white steam,” meaning firefighters had “good water on it, and had it pretty much in check.”
The Island County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the woman is 63; Burbank said she lives in the RV and was inside when the fire started. Personnel found her to be “lucid” when they spoke to her, he added. She was administered oxygen and given a blanket before eventually being airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Burbank said that burns of such severity are “extremely critical.” The release specified that the victim “suffered severe burns to over 90% of her body.” Friday morning, Walsh confirmed that she remains in the burn unit at Harborview.
“I didn’t see her, but (Walsh) did, he said it was probably the most severe burn victim he’s seen in his career,” he recalled.
An ongoing investigation is trying to corroborate what the victim told her neighbors before help arrived: that her propane heater “exploded” when she tried to light it, Burbank said. The release stated the RV was a “total loss.”
South Whidbey Fire/EMS got lucky the fire occurred when it did, Burbank explained. A minimum of four people staff a shift at the department, but dispatch received calls about the fire as the department prepared for a shift change.
“We were very fortunate because it was right at shift change. So we had the whole other shift able to respond with us,” he added. “So we got really lucky that we had extra people.”
