Fire destroys Bridgeport Bar home, injured transported to Harborview

BRIDGEPORT BAR – An early morning house fire last Friday, Jan. 5, at 474 Highway 173 on Dow Lane destroyed a home and sent two members of a Bridgeport family to Seattle’s Harborview Hospital for treatment of burns.
Bridgeport residents Pat McFadden, Tara Martin and her nine-year-old son Tommy Martin suffered burns while escaping the inferno that consumed their two-story wood-frame home and two vehicles in the attached carport.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Douglas Okanogan County Fire District 15 fire chief Bill Vallance said the alarm came in about an hour before sunrise on a morning when weather conditions made driving dangerous.
“We were toned out at 6:23 a.m.,” said Vallance of the initial call.
The closest DOCFD station was at Rocky Butte Station 40 on Moe Road about 1.5 miles north of Dow Lane on State Route 173.
“We were en route at 6:37 a.m.,” said Vallance “and the first truck arrived on scene at 6:49 a.m.”
The rapid response came despite icy conditions that made driving a challenge for responders who had to first get to fire stations from their homes.
“Everyone is a volunteer,” said Vallance. “The night before a freezing rain left about an inch of ice on windshields and made driving hazardous.”
In addition to Rocky Butte, units responded from Bridgeport, Brewster and Pateros.
“We had two engines from Brewster, and two from Pateros and multiple tenders,” Vallance said.
The three occupants escaped the residence and sustained burns in the process.
In a phone call to Vallance Monday afternoon, Tara Martin related additional details about the fire.
Martin told Vallance that she woke up to a rumbling sound and saw a glow outside the bedroom window. She awoke McFadden, then opened the bedroom door and was confronted with intense heat and smoke.
McFadden told Martin to get out of the house as he rushed to the adjacent bedroom to get nine-year-old Tommy Martin. McFadden and the youngster exited the burning house by the front door, sustaining burns in the process.
Martin said she tried to leave by the bedroom door but found the heat and smoke too extreme. She closed the door and retreated through the bedroom window.
Emergency Medical Service personnel transported the three victims to Three Rivers Hospital for initial examination and treatment.
“Two of the patients (McFadden and Tommy Martin) were transferred to Harborview Burn Center in stable condition and the third patient (Tara Martin) was discharged home.” according to a statement from Melanie Neddo, Chief Operating Officer at Three Rivers Hospital.
Susan Gregg, Director/Media Relations/Public Relations for Harborview/UW Medicine, reported last Tuesday afternoon that McFadden remains in serious condition and Martin is in satisfactory condition. No other details regarding projected time in the hospital or anticipated release date for either patient was forthcoming.
McFadden is in his first year as varsity boys’ basketball coach for the Bridgeport Mustangs. He also coached the varsity boys’ football team last fall. Martin is a special education teacher at Bridgeport Middle School and young Martin is a Bridgeport Elementary student.
 Bridgeport school principal Tamra Jackson said assistant varsity boys’ basketball coach Michael Oborne will assume McFadden’s interim coaching duties for the Mustangs during McFadden’s absence.
Oborne wrote by email that former coach Henry Austin is “taking over JV duties, (the) same position he had last year. We are glad he is able to jump in and help.”
McFadden grew up in Bridgeport, graduated Bridgeport High School in 1989 and attended college at the University of Idaho on a track and field scholarship. After graduating with an engineering degree, McFadden joined the Navy where he completed aviator training. Stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, McFadden flew, among other aircraft, the P-3C Orion, an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) four-engine turboprop.
Following a 19-year military career, McFadden left the Navy with a rank of Commander, returned to Bridgeport and joined the Bridgeport School District staff. He resigned his teaching position last September but continued as a varsity coach.
Those wishing to donate to the McFadden-Martin family can do so at Coulee Dam Credit Union under “McFadden Account” number 122707.