PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman who suffered serious burns to more than 65% of her body after she was trapped in a July Fourth apartment fire in Northeast Portland has died.
Kelsi Edmonds, 26, had been at the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center after jumping from about 30 feet to escape flames that destroyed the Heidi Manor apartment complex.
She’s the third person to have died from injuries suffered in the fire. Two of her roommates — boyfriend Seth Robert Thompson, 31, and Robert William Gremillion, 31 — also died
Thompson and Edmonds both jumped from the upper skywalk after being awakened around 3:30 a.m. by smoke and neighbors yelling. Thompson died a short time later. Gremillion died inside the apartment. Edmonds died Thursday.
She had undergone over a dozen surgeries and Dr. Niknam Eshraghi, medical director of the burn center, had cautioned that Edmonds remained critically ill.
Two weeks before her death, she had regained consciousness and was able to speak, according to family and friends.
Edmonds’ family and the families of the two men killed, as well as fourth roommate Jonathan Kinney, have filed a lawsuit alleging negligence by the owner, property manager and a garbage company.
Their representation said in an email:
Our trial team was devastated to learn that Kelsi passed away from the injuries she suffered in the fire. This brings to three the number of young, promising lives that were unnecessarily taken by the careless behavior and poor decisions of the corporations running the Heidi Manor apartment complex.
We join the families of Seth, Bill, and Kelsi in hoping that their deaths lead to changes that make things safer for the many who live in rental housing in Portland.
Fire investigators have said they suspect fireworks ignited trash in a plastic dumpster on the west side of the wooden complex. Police have made no arrests.
