PORT ORCHARD — Four family members, including two toddlers, perished as their two-level home on the 3800 block of SE Castlewood Drive in South Kitsap was destroyed by a fast-moving fire early Saturday morning, Oct. 14.

Fire units from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue responded at 3:48 a.m. to the deadly blaze and quickly extinguished the flames. When units arrived, a second alarm response was quickly initiated and units from Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue and Bremerton Fire Department arrived to assist.

A neighbor to the home, Doug Rinehart of South Kitsap, shot video of the fire (above) as it destroyed the home.

It wasn’t until investigators were able to safely enter the structurally weakened house that the bodies of four family members were discovered, he said. A private restoration service contractor responded to assess the structural integrity of the house and stabilize it so investigators could enter.

Deputy Scott Wilson, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, confirmed two small children — a 2-year-old girl, Madison Ann Simpson, and Collin Daniel Simpson, a 1-year-old boy — and the children’s father Merle Eugene Simpson III, 38, were discovered later in the afternoon in an upstairs bedroom by a team of sheriff’s detectives, fire marshal investigators and members from the county coroner’s office. The team also found a fourth person, the body of 63-year-old Vili Gallejo Simpson, who was the deceased man’s mother and the children’s grandmother, in another upstairs bedroom.

Wilson said that Don Simpson, the children’s grandfather and Merle’s father, managed to escape from the burning inferno and attempted to put out the fire with a garden hose. He was transported to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton for evaluation and treatment. Simpson works in the South Kitsap School District’s maintenance and grounds department.

Amy Miller, communication and public information officer for SKSD, said district administrators and counseling staff visited the facilities department where Simpson works “to talk about the tragedy.” She added “other support will be needed moving forward,” but nothing has been discussed yet.

A Kitsap County Coroner team was assisted by SKFR firefighters, fire marshal’s investigators and sheriff’s personnel to remove the victims from the gutted house. A county forensic pathologist has completed autopsies of the victims, Wilson said in a news release Oct. 16, and their identities also were confirmed. The coroner expects to determine the cause of their deaths and how they died, the sheriff’s spokesman said.

The fire marshal’s office, assisted by sheriff’s deputies, has begun an investigation of the origin and cause of the fatality fire. Wilson of the sheriff’s office didn’t indicate when the investigation findings are expected to be released publicly.

“The investigation,” Wilson said, “is in its early stages.”

Meanwhile, friends and neighbors are seeking donations for a https://www.gofundme.com/funeral-costs-for-simpson-family to pay for funeral expenses for the Simpson family. Miller said SKSD is also offering support to the GoFundMe account by sharing the link. As of Oct. 16, 89 contributors have donated $4,855 toward a goal of $10,000.

— Reporter Michelle Beahm contributed to this report.

A two-story, two-alarm Saturday morning fire destroyed a South Kitsap home and killed four members of the Simpson family inside. Grandfather, father and husband Don Simpson was found by firefighters from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue and assisting crews from Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue and Bremerton Fire shortly after he had escaped the burning home. Photo: Courtesy of Doug Rinehart