Residents of Coupeville’s Terry Mobile Park awoke to one of the worst imaginable scenarios early Thursday morning — the sound of a screaming child inside a burning building.

A 4-year-old girl was trapped in her bedroom and crying for her mother after their mobile home caught fire and was filling with smoke shortly after midnight.

Ardus Wertz had already exited her home through the back door during the chaos, then frantically tried to reach her daughter, Krystina Adams, whose room was at the opposite end of the structure near where the fire started.

While Wertz used a shovel to break the bedroom window, her boyfriend, Eric Baum, who was standing at the back door, braved the thick smoke and approaching flames to reach the little girl and carried her outside to safety.

The home was fully engulfed in flames within minutes.

“He’s the reason she made it out alive,” said Amanda Eley, Wertz’s sister.

All three were transported to nearby WhidbeyHealth Medical Center, where they received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Eley said her niece also had a second-degree burn on her foot and she noticed a cut on her sister’s foot.

“They were covered in black stuff so it was kind of hard to tell what was what,” Eley said.

Baum’s injuries were more serious. He was stabilized at WhidbeyHealth for severe smoke inhalation and transferred to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

The home and its contents were a total loss.

“The home and everything can be replaced,” Eley said. “I’m just glad they got out.”

Michael Mallahan, a next-door neighbor, said he awoke to what he thought was the flashing of emergency vehicle lights only to realize they were flames flickering in front of his neighbor’s home.

He yelled to his wife to call 911, then ran to the front of Wertz’s trailer.

“I could see the whole porch was on fire,” Mallahan said. “I started pounding on the window.”

While panic ensued, Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue was toned out to the fire at 12:45 a.m. and sent a fire engine, water tender and brush truck from Station 53 on Race Road and another engine staffed with volunteers from Station 54 in Greenbank.

An engine with North Whidbey Fire also responded.

The Oak Harbor Fire Department arrived on scene Thursday morning to assist in the fire investigation and try to determine its origin and cause. A team from Oak Harbor’s department assists in such matters across Whidbey Island as a member of the Region 3 Fire Investigators Task Force.

“There was nothing indicating it was an arson fire,” said Ray Merrill, Oak Harbor fire chief.

Merrill said evidence and witness testimony pointed to the front porch as the place of origin. And although the cause officially will go down as undetermined, it appeared the fire started from mounting cigarette butts placed in a plastic tray.

Charlie Smith, deputy chief with Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue, emphasized the importance of having functioning smoke detectors in homes and suggested people check batteries monthly.

The blare of a smoke detector is unmistakable.

“She wouldn’t have had to have heard a sound or smelled something weird if smoke detectors were going off,” Smith said.

“Smoke detectors save lives.”

Jerry Helm, captain with Central Whidbey Fire, credited the addition of sheet rock inside the mobile home with giving Baum more time to get to Adams.

The mobile home is owned by Wertz’s friend, David Elm.

“Without that, the fire would’ve cut this thing in half,” Helm said.“Usually, it’s a matter of minutes before they’re gone.”

n A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Wertz and her daughter recover. Those interested in helping may go to www.gofundme.com/2rx9hp8