A Winthrop woman lost nearly all of her possessions and two of her three beloved dogs in a fire Monday in Winthrop, her family told the Methow Valley News.
Darlene Hall, 85, is a longtime valley resident. She was living in a travel trailer on her family’s property on Northcott Road, her granddaughter Kyla Roberts said, which caught fire Monday afternoon.
“She is just devastated,” Roberts said. “Of course everything that my grandmother owned was in there. … That was one of the first things she said to me— all my Christmas gifts were in there. That’s just the kind of person she is.”
Hall was at work at Ace Hardware in Winthrop at the time. Roberts’ mother was home, saw smoke coming from the trailer and ran out to try to save Hall’s dogs.
“They were not responding and she couldn’t see anything because of the smoke,” Roberts said.
The two dogs inside the trailer died. A third was outside and survived.
Okanogan County Fire District 6 crews began responding at about 2:20 p.m. to the fire, which at that point had fully engulfed the trailer and was threatening a garage structure. There was some damage to the garage, but it’s still standing, Roberts said.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, according to the fire district. About 12 personnel from Winthrop, Twisp and Mazama fire stations responded, said Chief Cody Acord.
Roberts has set up a fundraiser for Hall at www.gofundme.com/f/help-darlene-recover-from-fire.
“She feels bad because she’s the type of person to help others,” Roberts said. “She would never ask for help herself.”
