Investigators Probe Cause of Fatal Somerset Fire

Investigators from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue are working tonight to determine the cause of a Wednesday afternoon fire that took the life of a six-year-old boy and left his two-year-old brother in critical condition.

The incident began when firefighters from TVF&R and the Hillsboro Fire Department were dispatched to a reported house fire at 3720 NW 168^th Avenue at 2:52 p.m. The house was located in the Somerset area, which is in TVF&R’s district, but receives simultaneous response from both fire agencies. As firefighters were responding, they were advised by radio that two children might be inside the residence.

On arrival, firefighters found smoke coming from the house and two women carrying two unconscious boys into the front yard. Firefighters initiated resuscitative efforts on the boys and attacked a fire found in the home’s living room.

The two boys, identified as two-year-old Cole Lee Dekeyser-Williams and six-year-old Diamond Harrison Harding, were taken by Metro-West Ambulance to Providence St. Vincent Hospital. Hospital officials have confirmed that Diamond was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at the hospital, and that Cole was subsequently transferred to OHSU, where he is listed in critical condition.

Preliminary information is that the boys’ mother, Lyric Harding (DOB: 12-5-59) had gone to Bethany School to pick the eight-year-old brother of the two victims. When she returned to the residence, Ms. Harding heard a muffled explosion and tried to enter the front door, only to be driven back by thick smoke. The eight-year-old ran to a neighboring residence to report the fire. Ms. Harding ran to the rear of the residence, followed by a neighbor who had been alerted to the situation, entered a bedroom window, and found both boys, who she passed through the window to the neighbor, identified as 32-year-old Andria Lishka. The two women carried the boys to the front of the house, where they met arriving firefighters. Ms. Harding was herself subsequently transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and was released Wednesday night.

Investigators have determined that the fire began in the home’s living room, and was confined to that room, but have not yet determined the cause of the fire. The entire interior of the home sustained varying degrees of smoke and heat damage, estimated in the range of $40,000. The home was equipped with hard-wired smoke detectors, but their performance has not been determined as they were destroyed by the fire.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office provided assistance at the scene.