‘She’s our angel’: Family mourns Anchorage woman who died after being pulled from burning house

Family members say a 28-year-old woman died from injuries she suffered in an East Anchorage house fire after alerting other residents but then apparently becoming trapped in a bathroom.

Haley Elizabeth Michelle Cartwright died Sunday at a Seattle hospital with family by her side, her relatives said this week. Injuries related to the fire, which occurred Friday, also sent three others to the hospital including a firefighter.

Cartwright was the first person in the house to alert others when the fire started in the family home, her older sister Reanna Weatherford said in an interview Tuesday.

The Anchorage Fire Department said firefighters rescued someone on the 1400 block of Marten Street off DeBarr Road shortly after responding to a fire around 6 p.m. Friday. Crews transported three people to the hospital, department officials said in a release. They said one person was in serious condition, two had minor injuries, and a firefighter was also transported with what officials described as a “moderate injury.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the fire department said.

Cartwright, one of six siblings, was diagnosed as a child with a rare genetic disorder known as Angelman Syndrome that led to development disabilities and impaired speech, her family members said.

“We always say she’s our angel, but truly she saved a lot of lives that day because there were roofers on the house and they didn’t know. ... My aunt was in the basement who didn’t know, and Haley alerted her. She alerted everybody, but we don’t know exactly what happened during the shuffle that Haley, we believe she didn’t quite understand, and she went into the bathroom,” Weatherford said.

The family said it appears Cartwright tried to open the bathroom door but fire blocked her path, Weatherford said. Doctors later told relatives that she had third-degree burns covering her left side and severe lung damage from smoke inhalation, Weatherford said.

Cartwright’s uncle and one of the men working on the roof tried to get into the bathroom to rescue her, but both were injured during their attempts, Weatherford said. A neighbor put a water hose through the bathroom window to try to put out the flames as they waited for the fire department, her sister said. The neighbor was also injured, she said.

The firefighter was injured while pulling Cartwright from the building, Weatherford said.

Fire department spokeswoman Lexi Trainer did not respond to a question asking if the firefighter was still hospitalized. Trainer also did not answer questions about specific details regarding the fire department’s response or Cartwright’s location in the house.

Firefighters performed CPR on Cartwright, who was not breathing, and transported her to Providence Alaska Medical Center, where she was placed on a ventilator, Weatherford said. She was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and the family learned early Saturday that the swelling in her brain left no chance for recovery, Weatherford said.

The family decided Saturday night to withdraw care and traveled to be at Cartwright’s bedside when she died Sunday, she said.

Cartwright was the central focus “of my parent’s lives, of her siblings’ lives; everything was around Haley,” Weatherford said. Although she was largely nonverbal, her sister always made it clear what she was thinking and her focus was almost always on taking care of others, she said.

John Cartwright, Haley’s father, said she was an organ donor who would have wanted to help others even in death.

“We always said she would have been a nurse if she could have been — she was always concerned, she always wanted to feel your forehead, wanted to check your pulse,” he said. “Everybody she ran into, she wanted to know if you’re OK.”

Cartwright inspired her parents and several of her siblings to pursue careers helping people with disabilities, Weatherford said.

The family home and belongings were destroyed by the fire, family members said. They were staying at an Airbnb in Seattle on Tuesday and said they planned to remain there until they can transport Cartwright’s body back to Alaska. They are hoping to find temporary housing when they return.

Weatherford started a GoFundMe page to raise $15,000 for family expenses that by Wednesday had received over $20,000 in donations.