Medical Examiner: Girl died of burns in Sultan fire

Lilly Teeters, 9, was trapped in a house that was engulfed in flames. There were no smoke detectors.

SULTAN — A young girl died from burn injuries after she was trapped in a fire at a remote house south of Sultan, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Lilly Teeters, 9, was sleeping in the loft of a house on Dotson Road early Monday morning when hanging clothes fell onto a wood stove, said Fire District 5 Chief Merlin Halverson.

There were no smoke detectors to warn family members outside of the impending blaze.

Flames had engulfed the house by the time someone used a ladder to get to her. Teeters was barely conscious and transported by medic to a hospital.

She later died from her injuries at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Firefighters responded around 1:30 a.m., but fire trucks couldn’t make it to the house due to the winter storm and dangerous road conditions. Firefighters who were able to reach the house helped the rest of the family but could not extinguish the blaze.

Three adults and a young boy were treated at a hospital for burns and other injuries. They were expected to survive.

Authorities initially reported that Teeters was 8.

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