Heater ignites couch, killing woman, 91, who was sleeping

At age 91, Alice Goldsworthy valued her independence, insisting on living in the house she and her husband built 60 years ago, even when her knees gave out and she had to be carried down the steps.

She was in that Magnolia home Thursday when a heater caused a fire in the living room while she was sleeping. She died in the fire.

Firefighters arrived at the home in the 1900 block of Clise Place West at about 5:15 a.m. after neighbors reported flames shooting up from the roof.

Firefighters found Goldsworthy's body in a bedroom.

A Seattle Fire Department investigation determined that the blaze was caused by a baseboard heater that ignited a couch in front of it. Damage to the home was estimated at $250,000.

The victim's son, Guy Goldsworthy, said he had talked to his mother the night before and had planned to pick her up Thursday to go to Thanksgiving dinner at her grandson's house.

Instead he struggled to comprehend what went wrong.

In March, a towel caught on fire in the bathroom, and the house was inspected by firefighters and an insurance company. "Everyone went through the house to make sure it wouldn't happen again," he said.

The baseboard heater had burned the couch 10 years ago, but the family put in a new electric wall heater to replace it, he said.

"We were convinced it was not operational or even connected," he said. Temperatures dropping unusually low Tuesday may have triggered it to start.

Common cause of fires

Fires caused by furniture, bedding and other materials placed near baseboard heaters and portable heaters are the most common heating-related fires in Seattle homes, the Fire Department said.

Goldsworthy had daily visits by caretakers. Her son, who lives less than a mile away, said he saw her every Saturday.

On Tuesday morning, Guy Goldsworthy went to check on his mother and found the house was icy. She used an electric blanket and was too frugal to keep the heater running all night, he said.

He spoke with her again Wednesday night, confirming plans for Thanksgiving.

"My son was coming over and we were going to carry her down the stairs," he said.

Goldsworthy resisted any notion of leaving her house. She had lost her husband 10 years ago.

"Once or twice we gingerly suggested, do you want to be anywhere else," her son said. "She said absolutely not. Years ago, she had said 'I'll be going out of this house feet first.' "

On Thursday morning, Jeanne Bremer, who lives two houses away, said neighbors awoke to a boom from the fire blowing out the living-room windows in Goldsworthy's home.

"I saw flames a full story up," she said.

Another neighbor was running down the sidewalk shouting "Fire!" to warn other residents, Bremer said.

Norma Jean Hanson, who lives across the street, said she knew her neighbor was an elderly woman living alone.

"It's sad she died that way," Hanson said, "but at least she lived her own life and never had to go to a nursing home."

UW graduate

Goldsworthy, who grew up in Seattle, graduated from the University of Washington and had a career as a pharmacist.

She was an avid reader all her life and continued to take part in book discussions through the Women's University Club.

"She was the most well-read woman I've ever known," said her daughter-in-law, Mary Lou Goldsworthy.

As a child during the Depression she had lived with her mother in an attic above the Queen Anne duplex they rented to earn income.

Later she traveled all over the world with her husband, who was also a retired pharmacist.

Besides being independent, Goldsworthy was an eternal optimist.

"Most of her friends said they couldn't imagine her being confined to the house," Guy Goldsworthy said. "But she was always optimistic. She was able to look at not what she was lacking but what she had."

Source: The Seattle Times