Kitsap County, WA...Children Die In Fire...State Knew of Dangers

Kitsap County is part of DSHS Region 5. If you are a reader of this blog you will know that Region 5 is Kitsap (Bremerton area) and Pierce (Tacoma) Counties. There have been 8 children under state "care" that have died in this region since the first of the year. Six were murdered.

Should we add two more to the death toll?

Late last Friday night there was a fire that tragically took the life of a 16-year -year-old girl who ran back into the house to try and save her 4-year-old brother. They were two of the five foster adopt children living at the home.

Like everyone, I was saddened to hear this terrible, terrible thing. We had just learned of three girls losing their lives in a house fire the previous week. I do not want to exploit this tragedy for the sake of this blog.

But questions came to mind when I heard the foster mother say to the TV cameraman that she didn't think her daughter set the fire. That was a pretty weird thing to say.

According to the paper, "Neighbors say one year ago to the day there was another fire in the family home. Neighbors say both fires started in a couch and that the previous one may have been set by one of the children."

It was confirmed to me that one of the teenage girls in the home had set the last fire. I was told it was caused by one of the foster girls who had been starting "little" fires around the house that day. (This is Halloween FREAKY! I just got up and closed the blinds!)

She was put into counseling. Did CPS respond to this situation by moving to protect the other children? Did any of the adoptions occur after the incident? What determines whether or not a home is safe?

The four-year-old was adopted just about the time of the previous fire. Did CPS rush in to make the adoption or did they proceed with caution knowing there was a child with mental "issues" living in the home before the placement. (Would you want to be in a house where a teenager was "setting little fires" in the house??)

I am betting there have been several mental evaluations on this "troubled" girl and that the department moved ahead anyway. At least, that would be their track record.