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| Stefany Cutler-Ffitch, 23, had run inside to retrieve dogs still inside and she died along with one of them |
Cause of fatal Ridgefield house fire undetermined
By Andy Matarrese, Columbian Breaking News Reporter
August 20, 2018
Ridgefield, WA
Investigators couldn’t find enough evidence in the wreckage of a Ridgefield house fire that killed a woman earlier this month to clearly determine its cause.
The fire was reported early Aug. 8 at 29305 N.W. 41st Ave. Firefighters found the home burning intensely, and a man lying on the ground after jumping from a second-floor window to escape.
He told firefighters that Stefany Cutler-Ffitch, 23, had run inside to retrieve dogs still inside.
Cutler-Ffitch did not make it back outside, and firefighters could not rescue her. She died of smoke inhalation, according to the Clark County medical examiner.
Two dogs escaped the fire, but another, a pug named Mario, died.
Deputy Clark County Fire Marshal Alicia Perry said there was too little definitive evidence to explain how the fire started so it will remain undetermined.
Friends set up a GoFundMe fundraising page to help surviving family get back on their feet, under “David, Brenda & family.”
"On Wed. Aug. 8, 2018, Our good friends and neighbors David and Brenda McPeake lost their home, contents, and their vehicles to a tragic fire while they were on vacation.
Austen, Brenda's son and her niece Stefany
were at home when the fire broke out approx. 4am.
Austen had gotten out safely, and are heartbroken to say that Stefany and her pug Mario did not make it."
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Medical examiner IDs 23-year-old woman who died in Ridgefield house fire
August 13, 2018
By FOX 12 Staff
Ridgefield, WA
The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the 23-year-old woman who died of smoke inhalation in a Ridgefield house fire.
Emergency crews responded to the 29300 block of Northwest 41st Avenue at 3:50 a.m. Wednesday.
The two-story home was fully involved in flames when firefighters arrived. Firefighters said two men jumped from a second-story window to escape, and one of them sustained a leg injury.
Stefany R. Cutler-Ffitch of Ridgefield was initially reported as missing, before her body was later found. Firefighters said the woman went back into the home to look for a dog.
The medical examiner listed Cutler-Ffitch’s cause of death as an accident due to smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire has not yet been released.