CLEARFIELD — A 5-year-old girl died Friday in a mobile home fire in Clearfield.
Fire crews were called about 7 a.m. to the Clearfield Mobile Home Park on State Street near 400 South and found heavy smoke and flames coming from a single-wide trailer.
"It was obviously a defensive fire at that time," said Mark Becraft, deputy chief of the North Davis Fire District. "Unfortunately, we had too much fire involvement to perform any type of a rescue."
A neighbor told fire crews he had tried to open the trailer's door, but there was too much heat and smoke.
The body of Harleigh Wilson, 5, was found near the rear of the trailer.
Two other children, an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl, were able to get out safely as the trailer's smoke detectors went off. They were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The children's parents were not home at the time.
"There's a transition period in which Dad comes home from a graveyard shift and Mom goes to work, so there's just a short period of time in which they're not there," Becraft said.
The two children who escaped went to their grandmother's home nearby, and she called 911. Becraft estimated the trailer was consumed by fire in just 10 minutes.
Crews believe the fire started in the center of the trailer in a bathroom area also used for laundry. The cause is under investigation, but Becraft said preliminary indications point to a clothes dryer that was on at the time of the fire.
The family is staying with relatives while the American Red Cross helps them with food and clothing.
"Apparently this is all they have, and they've pretty much lost everything," Becraft said.
Damages were estimated at $50,000, including the trailer and its contents.
Contributing: Pat Reavy
e-mail: pkoepp@desnews.com Twitter: pbkdn