Man died trying to save granddaughter
The grandfather of three girls trapped in their burning home on Christmas morning died as he climbed the roof to try to save one of them, officials revealed Tuesday. The girls and their grandmother also perished in what investigators concluded was a tragic accident started by fireplace embers. Lomer Johnson apparently collapsed outside the window of a bedroom, Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte told reporters.It appears he had been planning to help the child get out; she had been placed on a pile of books, so he could reach in and grab her, officials said.
"When he went out the window, that's when he succumbed and she died just inside the window," Conte said.
"He died on the outside, and she died on the inside," Conte said. "She was right next to him."
Lomer Johnson had appeared as Santa at Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store in Manhattan. His daughter, homeowner Madonna Badger, a New York City ad executive, survived along with Michael Borcina, described as her boyfriend, who was staying with her while helping remodel the Victorian house.
Sometime between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, a friend staying in the home put fireplace ashes in a bag and left it either in or outside a mudroom and trash enclosure attached to the rear of the house, said Barry Callahan, Stamford's fire marshal. The fire was reported just after 4:40 a.m.
The fire entered the house quickly and spread throughout the first floor and up two interior vertical openings, trapping the occupants on the upper floors," Callahan said.
Officials described a frantic scene after rescuers arrived early Sunday.
Neighbors said they were awakened by screams shortly before 5 a.m. and rushed outside to help but could do nothing as flames devoured the large Victorian home.
Conte said the children's mother had climbed out a window onto scaffolding and then a flat roof. She was screaming for her children and pointed firefighters to the third floor.
Firefighters climbed to the third floor twice, but the heat and flames were too intense and the children were not where they thought they would be, he said.
Borcina told investigators he actually had led two of the girls downstairs, but heat from the flames separated them, Conte said.
One apparently went back upstairs and another one was found with her grandmother at the bottom of the stairwell between the second and third floors, he said.
Flames were shooting out of the house when firefighters arrived, said Brendan Keatley, a firefighter who was at the scene.
"Two sides of the structure were walls of flame," Keatley said.
Firefighters used a ladder and construction scaffolding outside the house to reach the third floor, but they ran into extreme heat and poor visibility in a hallway, Keatley said. Four firefighters were injured as they searched for the victims, including a captain who suffered second-degree burns on his face, Keatley said.
Fighting the fire took a physical and an emotional toll, he said, and counselors were being made available to firefighters.
"We are devastated, just like everybody else is devastated," Keatley said Tuesday.
