Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Jeannette Dunivan-Spain died from a very bad infection due to burns she suffered in the house fire in Vader.
Dunivan-Spain, 39, was taken off life support at St. John Medical Center in Longview last Friday, eight days after she was injured in the fire.
[1]721 C Street, Vader
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, but she told deputies she had been using a candle for light in her friend’s house which had no electricity or running water. She told her mother her blanket caught on fire.
It happened very early in the morning of Aug. 15; the one and half story house on C Street was a total loss.
She was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital where she was treated and released. The following day, she was taken to the Longview hospital, treated further and released again. Dunivan-Spain went to the hospital a third time when her condition worsened.
Lewis County Coroner’s Office Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said yesterday an autopsy revealed the cause of death was a very bad staph infection she’d had for days, because of second-degree burns to her face and upper extremities.
It was merhicillin resistant staphyococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, Harris said.
Cowlitz County Coroner Tim Davidson said the hospital requested a clinical autopsy, as the physician wanted more definition on what the patient was suffering from. Because of the law enforcement investigation into the house fire, a forensic autopsy was in order as well and it just made more sense for all to it to be handled by Lewis County, he said.
A memorial service for Dunivan-Spain will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 122 Henriott Road, Toledo
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For background, read:
• “Vader burn victim dies, investigation underway” from Wednesday August 28, 2013, here [2]
• “Vader house fire injures one” from Thursday August 15, 2013, here [3]