UPDATED: Newcastle Man Injured in House Fire

Update, 8:45 p.m. Friday:

The man injured in a house fire Friday wasn't hurt as severely as initially thought.

He suffered minor burns, Bellevue Fire Lt. Troy Donlin said in a statement.

The fire destroyed the second and third floors of the home, located in Newcastle just south of Bellevue, and damage was estimated at $500,000, Donlin said.

Investigators from Bellevue and King County are working to determine how the blaze started.

The family has insurance and is being helped by members of their church, Donlin said.

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ORIGINAL

A man was critically burned in a house fire Friday afternoon in southwest Bellevue.

The fire in the 6400 block of Lake Washington Boulevard was reported at 1:38 p.m. by the owner of the nearby Shell gas station, who saw smoke and heard a smoke detector, said Bellevue Fire Lt. Troy Donlin.

The man’s 16-year-old daughter, who was in her basement bedroom, got out safely. The man, who had been upstairs burning boxes in a fireplace, got out somehow, and medics found him in his car less than half a block away at the gas station, Donlin said. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with critical injuries.

The girl’s mother, who was at Bellevue Square at the time of the fire, was notified and headed to Harborview.

The family had just moved into the house near Newcastle overlooking Lake Washington three weeks ago, Donlin said.

The cause of the fire isn't known, Donlin said. It's unclear if the burning boxes contributed to the fire.

Fire crews from Bellevue and Mercer Island responded to the blaze.