69-year-old woman dies in Federal Way condo fire

SKFR determining cause of blaze that damaged eight units.

A 69-year-old woman was killed in a fire at Federal Way condominium complex on Tuesday night.

South King Fire & Rescue received a call about a fire at 32303 Fourth Place at 9:52 p.m., SKFR Fire Marshal Gordy Goodsell said.

The King County Medical Examiners’s Office on Wednesday identified the victim as Carol A. Halder. The cause and manner of her death had not been determined as of Wednesday afternoon.

The call was upgraded to a two-alarm blaze shortly after the first crews arrived at the two-story, eight-unit building.

“What we found when we got there was a fire burning on a rear balcony that extended up to the rear attic,” Goodsell said.

Firefighters had to remove Halder, who had respiratory and mobility issues, from her unit across the breezeway from where the fire started, Goodsell said.

“That was a challenge to rescue her from the apartment,” he said. “She wasn’t able to get out on her own.”

Halder died on the scene shortly after firefighters got her out of the building.

The damage to the building is valued at $400,000 and the loss of its contents at $200,000, Goodsell said.

Three of the eight units sustained significant damage, while the others had moderate smoke and water damage, he said.

All of the residents in the building were displaced because the units were still without power and water on Wednesday afternoon.

The South King Firefighters Foundation paid for hotel rooms for two of the displaced families on Tuesday night, Goodsell said.

As of Wednesday, the cause of the fire had not been determined.

“Early reports and fire patterns indicate the fire originated on the balcony of second-floor unit,” he said.

The Tacoma Fire Department also responded to the call.