Two kids left home alone die in blaze

Cathy Scott

Monday, Jan. 26, 1998 | 10:08 a.m.

A 4-year-old boy was in critical condition at University Medical Center today with burn and smoke inhalation injuries he suffered during a house fire that killed his older brother and little sister.

The parents had left the children at home Saturday night to go grocery shopping, according to Tim Szymanski, spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire Department. The couple told investigators they left home about 10 p.m.

At 11:09 p.m., firefighters received a 911 call for a fire in a small two-bedroom, wood-framed home at 1606 Ferrell Street near Rancho and Vegas drives. Shortly after firefighters arrived, they rescued the 4-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl from a bedroom, Szymanski said. Both were unconscious and lying on the floor near the door. The boy had a pulse and was breathing on his own, he said. The girl had no pulse. Paramedics tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her on the scene he said.

Both children were taken to UMC where the girl was pronounced dead upon arrival. The boy was admitted to the pediatric trauma unit.

Szymanski said it wasn't until the flames were being extinguished and firefighters had made it into a second bedroom that the third child was discovered. The badly burned 6-year-old boy was found lying dead on his bed. Firefighters had to be relieved by a second fire crew because of the emotional trauma, Szymanski said, adding that fire-related deaths involving children are considered the worst and most traumatic call for firefighters.

The fire was started from a space heater plugged into an extension cord in the second bedroom, he said. There were no smoke detectors in the home, he said. Damage was estimated at $35,000.

The parents arrived home about midnight to find firefighters and police at their home. When told of the fatalities, the father threw himself down on the pavement and wept, Szymanski said.

"The parents were very distraught, very upset," he said. "They were screaming and crying."

Police drove the parents to the hospital to be with their surviving child, Szymanski said.

Metro detectives were investigating whether neglect or endangerment charges should be brought against the parents, he said. Metro was investigating whether charges would be filed against the parents for leaving the children home alone, Szymanski said. Their findings were to be turned over to the district attorney's office for determination, he said.

Ymar Banks said he was leaving his home down the street when he noticed smoke coming from the house. He drove home and called 911.

"They told me to go back and knock on the door," Banks said. "I ran back. I started knocking on the door. I heard glass breaking. I knew children lived there, but I didn't think they were at home."

He said he stood outside the house as the children were pulled out.

"I felt bad to know that the kids were in there and that the parents weren't home," he said. "That doesn't make sense. You shouldn't do that."

Imogene Griggs, who lives directly across the street from the family, said she saw the parents come and go a lot, always with the children. The family had lived across the street from her for three or four years, she said.

"The mother didn't work," she said. "She stayed home and took care of the family. The children were always clean and neat. The mother would sit out on the porch and play with the children. Almost every day she would take them for a walk."

Learning that the children were left alone, Griggs said "is not easy to understand."

"It doesn't seem right to me. I can't imagine why they were alone."

Because police, UMC and the coroner's office have received several last names, the identities of the children and parents were not released, Szymanski said.

Griggs said she was concerned that a fire hydrant across the street from the burning home wasn't working.

Szymanski confirmed that it was broken. But he said all fire trucks carry 750 gallons.

"They used the water that was on the truck," he said. "They had the kids out of the house in less than a minute. The fire was pretty quick to put out. The hydrant was not a determining factor."

He said the room where the boy burned to death "was gone before we even arrived on the scene. There was no way we could save him."

The deaths mark the first of the year in the city by a fire. Last year, eight people lost their lives due to fires in the city. One was related to a space heater, Szymanski said.