Furniture given to family whose kids died in blaze

Friday, March 28, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Walker Furniture is donating a houseful of furniture to a local family whose two young daughters were killed when their house caught on fire.

The donation was sparked by a request from Clark County Fire Department Capt. Joe Plank, who contacted the company to see if it would be interested in contributing.

County firefighters, meanwhile, have been raising money for the Santiago family, whose home and children they desperately tried to save March 18 after a neighbor's 911 call at 1:21 a.m. sent them speeding to the older two-story home at 3915 Belleville Ave., off Sandhill Road and Harmon Avenue.

The children's grandfather was the first to awaken to a smoke-filled house and help the children's mother, Lori, and father, Antonio, escape the house with their 2-year-old daughter and a family friend, authorities said. Intense heat and flames prevented Antonio from returning to the house to rescue daughters Angelica, 4, and Marie, 8.

The girls had died by the time firefighters could reach them. One was found in her bed upstairs, the other in the hall.

"This is a horrible tragedy that has touched the hearts of all Las Vegas," said Larry Alterwitz, president of Walker Furniture. "We just wanted to do something that might help the family in some way."

Anyone interested in helping the Santiagos can make a deposit into an account set up at Nevada Federal Credit Union under the name Antonio Santiago. The account number is 530-8884-3100.