Child in critical condition after house fire rescue (updated)

Editor's note: The Anaconda Leader received confirmation from the family today (Monday, June 24) that the child, identified as 9-year-old Bentley Angulo, passed away on Thursday evening, June 20, at Shriner's Children's Hospital in Spokane, Washington. A GoFundMe has been set up on their behalf: https://gofund.me/df5328af. The Anaconda Leader will have further updates to this tragic story in our Wednesday, June 26 edition.

A child is in critical condition as the result of a house fire that struck in the early morning hours of Friday, June 14 at 710 W. 4th St. in Anaconda. 

No further information has officially been released about the child or his condition, nor as to the two other occupants who were inside the structure when the fire occurred. However, Anaconda Fire Chief Cody Tocher said that while those other two occupants had self-extricated from the house and transported themselves to the hospital, for the first occupant it was a rescue situation. 

"That's the first priority – life before property," Tocher said, explaining that after bystanders at the scene said that there was someone still inside the building, firefighters were able to use the ladder truck to go through the bedroom window and rescue the occupant down the ladder. 

When the call first went out, there were only three firefighters initially on scene, Tocher said. Then the department was paged out for a second alarm on the fire, bringing the responders up to six, and the Opportunity and West Valley Volunteer Fire Departments added more crewmembers to combat the blaze. 

"I couldn't be more proud of our guys. We have an incredible fire department in our town. It's amazing what these guys and gals do," Tocher said. "Being able to do a rescue and stop [the fire] at one building is almost unheard of. It's a huge accomplishment for the situation we were faced with."

The fire itself is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal's Office, and while the cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, Tocher said that arson has been ruled out. 

The Anaconda Fire Department was paged out a little after 2 a.m. on Friday, June 14 in response to multiple 911 emergency calls from neighbors who were "yelling and looking out and seeing smoke," Tocher said, adding that the structure fire was "heavily involved in the front part of the building" upon their arrival.

Firefighters with the Anaconda Fire Department, the West Valley Volunteer Fire Department and the Opportunity Volunteer Fire Department were on scene, with firefighters getting the blaze under control at approximately 3:08 a.m., Tocher said.

"We had to go through the stairwell on the west side of the building. We also used the deck gun to knock it down," he said. 

Tocher said he requested the State Fire Marshal’s Office to assist with the investigation into the cause and origin of the fire, with deputies from Helena and Great Falls arriving Friday morning. 

While arson has been ruled out, making its cause accidental, the fire's origin remains under investigation and won't be known until the fire marshal's report has been released. 

The property is owned by Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commissioner Steve Gates, who at Tuesday night's Commission meeting thanked all the firefighters for their quick response, including fellow Commissioner Tom Gallagher with the Opportunity Volunteer Fire Department, and said he hopes the child who's in critical condition will be resuscitated.