Dad, 2 kids burned in house fire near Richland

BENTON CITY, Wash. – Authorities say a man and his two children were critically injured in a house fire west of Richland.

KEPR-TV reported that Benton County firefighters responded to the fire Monday morning at a mobile home in Benton City.

Witness Luis Madrigal told reporters that the children’s father threw the kids to him through a window.

Authorities took the father and his two children, 7 and 10 years old, to Kadlec Medical Center before flying them to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Harborview Medical Center officials said all three were in critical condition Monday afternoon.

Benton County Fire District Fire Captain Ed Dunbar says the parents are farm workers on a nearby vineyard and that they were working when they saw the smoke coming from their home.

Dunbar said the house is a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation.