Rescued boy released from hospital

By Lauren Graf
Seattle Times staff reporter

Joshua McClellan was rescued by a neighbor.

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Four-year-old Joshua McClellan, the Federal Way boy rescued from his burning home by a neighbor Sunday, is well on his way to recovery — save for a few blisters.

The boy was discharged from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle yesterday afternoon, two days after a fire that caused an estimated $125,000 in damage to his family's Federal Way home and could have claimed his life had it not been for 22-year-old Christian Ramirez, the neighbor who went into the blazing home to get the youngster.

Joshua, who was initially listed in serious condition at Harborview, doesn't remember the fire, his mother Patti-Jo McClellan said at a news conference yesterday.

Ramirez, who has spent time with the boy at the hospital and brought him a toy cowboy on a horse, had never met the McClellans before the fire. Ramirez said he will invite Joshua over to his house to play basketball when the youngster gets better.

The boy's father, Steve Schnitger, was discharged from Harborview on Sunday. Schnitger was in the house when the fire started, but got out on his own. Schnitger was fighting the fire with a garden hose when he told Ramirez that his son was still inside.

Ramirez entered the house twice, finding the boy on the second attempt and carrying him to safety.

Patti-Jo McClellan said that she now considers Ramirez a member of her extended family.

McClellan said her family is starting over — the Red Cross is helping them with temporary housing, and a family friend has set up a donation account at Columbia Bank under Joshua's name.

The official cause of the fire has not been determined, but investigators say the fire started in the living room and was not electrical.

Lauren Graf: 206-464-8345

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