City officials say embers from a badly discarded log may have triggered a tragic Christmas fire in Stamford, Conn., that killed five members of the same family. NBC’s Craig Melvin reports.
STAMFORD, Conn. — The grandfather of three girls trapped in their burning home on Christmas morning died as he climbed the roof to save them, officials revealed Tuesday. The girls and their grandmother also perished in what investigators concluded was a tragic accident that started in the home's fireplace.
mer Johnson apparently collapsed outside the window of one of his granddaughters, Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte told reporters.
"He died on the outside, and she died on the inside," Conte said. "She was right next to him."
Flames were shooting out of the house when firefighters arrived, said Brendan Keatley, a Stamford 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.
Officials on Tuesday said the fire was caused by fireplace embers discarded near a first-floor entryway.
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Homeowner Madonna Badger, a New York City ad executive, survived along with a man later identified as her boyfriend who was helping remodel the Victorian home.
The home was demolished Monday due to the fire damage and safety concerns.
Badger had a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins. Her parents were visiting for the holidays.
Lomer Johnson had worked as a Santa at Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store in Manhattan. "Mr. Johnson was Saks Fifth Avenue's beloved Santa, and we are heartbroken about this terrible tragedy," Saks spokeswoman Julia Bently said Monday.
Neighbors said they awoke to the sound of screaming shortly before 5 a.m. on Christmas morning and rushed outside to help, but they could only watch in horror as flames devoured the grand home and the shocked, injured survivors were led away from the house.
Badger, a New York ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of New York City-based Badger & Winters Group. A supervisor at Stamford Hospital said she was treated and discharged by Sunday evening.
Property records show she bought the five-bedroom, waterfront home for $1.7 million last year. The house is situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.
The male acquaintance who also escaped the blaze was a contractor who was doing work on the home, Stamford police Sgt. Paul Guzda said. He was also hospitalized but his condition was not released. The Stamford Advocate identified him as Michael Borcina.
"It is a terrible, terrible day," Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia told reporters at the scene of the fire on Sunday. "There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford."
Police officers drove Badger's husband, Matthew Badger, from New York City to Stamford on Sunday morning. The Badgers reportedly are separated.
Firefighters knew there were other people in the home but could not get to them because the flames were too large and the heat too intense, said Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte, his voice cracking with emotion.
"It's never easy. That's for sure," he said. "I've been on this job 38 years ... not an easy day."
A neighbor who lives across the street, Sam Cingari Jr., said he was awakened by the sound of screaming and saw that the house was engulfed by flames.
"We heard this screaming at 5 in the morning," he said. "The whole house was ablaze and I mean ablaze."
He told The Advocate that he later learned the screams were coming from Madonna Badger.
"The reason she was screaming, of course, was because her family was inside the house," he said.
Cingari said he did not know his neighbors, who he said bought the house last year and were renovating it.
Charles Mangano, who lives nearby, said his wife woke him up and alerted him to the fire. He ran outside to see if he could help and saw fire trucks in front of the house.