WABAMUN, Alta. — For the Dolamore family, a home invasion that ended with their mother being set on fire by a masked intruder is only the latest in a list of tragedies.

Jessica Dolamore was in critical but stable condition Monday in the burn unit at the University Hospital in Edmonton. She had second-degree burns on 30 per cent of her body, said hospital spokeswoman Anne McInerney.

The fire was the third experienced by the Dolamores and the second to destroy a family home.

Just last fall the family moved to Wabamun, about 60 kilometres west of Edmonton, from the southern Alberta town of Magrath, where they had lost everything after a fire destroyed their two-storey home on July 15, 2000.

Fire investigators had narrowed the cause down to a faulty appliance.

Then on Dec. 2, a fire broke out at their new home after a candle was left unattended in a bathroom.

"A couple of volunteer firefighters live right in the subdivision so they were able to get there and extinguish the fire without any real damage,'' Bill Purdy, deputy mayor of Wabamun, said of the December fire.

"Any damage had been renovated and they were getting on with their lives again.''

In November 1998, the Dolamores made national headlines when their infant daughter Hannah was accidentally exposed to formalin, a diluted solution of formaldehyde, while in an incubator at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital.

Hannah's lungs were scarred and she developed severe chemical sensitivity when the nurse mistook the formalin for distilled water.

Michael Dolamore did not want to speak to the media Monday about his wife and what he was doing for their six children, McInerney said.

"He's incredibly overwhelmed,'' she said.

RCMP said Jessica Dolamore was home with four of the children Saturday evening when a man wearing a dark balaclava burst into the house demanding money. When she refused, he sprayed her and her 18-year-old daughter with what appeared to be gasoline.

The daughter managed to call for help, extinguish the flames on her mom and get everyone out of the house before it was engulfed in flames.

Michael Dolamore, who joined Wabamun's volunteer fire department only a month ago, wasn't at home when the masked man attacked. RCMP were continuing their investigation Monday.

Purdy said people have been calling his home and the village office wanting to know how to help the family.

A trust fund has been set up at the Wabamun Credit Union and donations of items can be brought to the village office, Purdy said.

The Dolamores' neighbours were shaken by the incident.

"My 200-pound dogs, both of them, are coming inside the house now,'' said Debbi Meronowich.

She said she may now install a security system.