EVERETT — A fatal fire at an espresso stand along Everett Mall Way has been ruled an accident.
Courtney Campbell, 25, died after her stand exploded on Jan. 7. She had two children.
Investigators determined that propane gas had leaked from a heater inside the stand and ignited, Assistant Fire Marshal Eric Hicks said Wednesday.
Campbell was using a propane-powered camping heater to stay warm inside the stand. The heater was fueled by small propane cylinders that she was filling from a larger propane tank, Hicks said.
“Somewhere in there was the release of the propane, which caused the flash,” he said.
Investigators talked to hospital staff who treated Campbell and a customer who saw her a few minutes before the explosion. The man reportedly smelled the propane and warned Campbell. She jumped out of the window as the stand exploded. Her business, the Sinners and Saints Coffee Co., was destroyed.
The death was one of three fatal fires in Everett in a month’s span. A Dec. 31 fire at the Bluffs apartments along W. Casino Road took the life of a 65-year-old man. That fire, which started in a mattress, was ruled undetermined, meaning there was not enough information available to pinpoint the cause.
On Jan. 25, Michael E. Elke, 76, died from smoke inhalation after his home along Ocean Drive caught fire. The fire marshal’s office still is investigating that fire, as is the insurance company, Hicks said.
There were no witnesses, and it might not possible to determine an exact cause, he said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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