Crime & Safety

Press Conference: Several Rescue Attempts Fruitless in Christmas Fire

City officials speak with reporters to share the latest in the investigation into the deadly Shippan Avenue fire.

Update 5:19 p.m.:

Over and over, attempts were made to rescue the family lost in the Shippan Christmas Day fire. Each one failed.

Michael Borcina, the boyfriend of Madonna Badger, made one. He got back inside the building and led two of the children downstairs from the third floor to the second, but in the heat, smoke and confusion, two girls ran off—one went back upstairs and the other ran elsewhere in the burning home.

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The body of one of those children was found with her grandmother near the stairway at the front of the house.

Madonna Badger, the homeowner, also tried to get back into the building, but the flames prevented her, and firefighters who found her still attempting to get in brought her back, away from the flames.

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Badger's father, Lomer Johnson, got out of a second-story window, but fell, face first, to his death two stories below at the back of the house. Another grandchild was found on some books near the window Johnson fell from.

Fire officials believe Johnson had hoped to get out of the window, climb on some rafters that were there during a construction project on the house, and somehow grab the child so they could both make their escape.

When firefighters arrived, a crew rushed onto the third floor, but they found no one. A fire captain's face was burned in the attempt.

Firefighters made another attempt, rushing into the second floor, but that attempt also proved fruitless. Two firefighters were later treated for smoke inhalation.

"After 37, 38 years on the job, you're never prepared for anything like this," Acting Fire Chief Anthony Conte said during a 40-minute news conference Tuesday in Government Center. "I had to recall 70 firefighters today for debriefing, and most of them broke down."

The news conference did not clear up whether or not Badger's family was occupying the second floor of the structure, which was undergoing renovation. Under city building regulations, a permit is needed before people can move back into areas undergoing extensive renovations.

At the Badger home, on the second floor it was only permissible for the master bedroom to be used. Whether or not family members were sleeping there when the fire began is not yet known, city officials said. The first and third floors were available for legal occupation, they said.

It was also unclear whether or not a working smoke alarm or other fire detection system was operating at the time. Some initial comments from city officials at first seemed to indicate that no alarm system was in use, but later in the news conference city officials said they simply didn't know.

An alarm system had been part of a building application, officials later said, but that proposed system had not yet been offered up for inspection. Officials said they didn't know whether or not smoke detectors were still in place in the building.

Update 4:38 p.m.:

Acting Fire Chief Anthony Conte said Michael Borcina tried to get back in the building to rescue the girls.

"You have to understand that with the amount of heat and smoke how scared those children must've been," Conte said.

The master bedroom was on the second floor near the turret, so it was easier for Borcina and Madonna to get out.

The news conference ended at 4:37 p.m.

Update 4:31 p.m.:

Response time to the fire was six minutes, Acting Fire Chief Conte said.

"It appears that the second floor was occupied," Barry Callahan, the fire marshal, said.

Mayor Michael Pavia said the final inspection had not yet taken place on the house. Asked if it was allowed for a family to live in an area that was under construction, before city building inspectors gave approval, Pavia answered, "Technically the approval process is such, that if someone had been living in a place that had not been inspected for code compliance, the answer is no."

"We do know from the building permit file that there was a recent amendment to the building permit application to install a new security alarm and fire detection system in the house," Pavia said. What was in place before installation, he said, "we don't know."

Update 4:25 p.m.:

Some members of the household went to bed as late as 3 or 3:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, and the Fire Department was called at about 4:50 a.m., according to the city fire marshal. He believes the fire started between those times.

The ashes were placed in a bag, the fire marshal said.

Update 4:21 p.m.:

A trash enclosure "attached to the rear portion of the house" near the back mudroom was roughly where the fire embers had been put, a city official said.

A fire captain received burns on his face and two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation after different crews of firefighters went into the burning house, Acting Fire Chief Anthony Conte said.

There was a system to detect fires in at least certain areas of the house, according to Ernie Orgera, director of operations for the city of Stamford. The house passed initial building inspections in July. They looked at plumbing, electrical systems and the structure.

The family was allowed to live in parts of the home that were not under construction, Orgera said. The entire second floor was under construction except for the master bedroom.

Update 4:15 p.m.:

Acting Fire Chief Anthony Conte said at the news conference:

  • "There was an extremely large amount of fire when we arrived on that scene."
  • "The structure was so weakened that we had to place ladders [...] horizontally, so firefighters could get in."

Update 4:12 p.m.:

Michael Borcina, the boyfriend of homeowner Madonna Badger, had removed some embers from a fireplace and put them near the back of the house, by a mudroom. That's where the fire started, according to Acting Fire Chief Anthony Conte.

Borcina led two of the children downstairs to the second floor and was leading them out "but the girls panicked. One obviously ran back up stairs the other went off in another direction, and he lost sight of them," Conte said.

Borcina had tried to get back into the house but could not, Conte said. "Mrs. Badger was helped down from the second floor roof" and told firefighters the children were on the third floor, he said.

Update 4:07 p.m.:

Acting Fire Chief Anthony Conte said the grandfather, Lomer Johnson, tried to save one of the grandchildren and had her on some books near a window on the second floor. Johnson was found beneath the window.

City officials said the family was doing construction work on the home while they were living in it. The house had no smoke detector or similar fire alarm system, as far as city officials know.

Pavia: Technically, to live in certain portions of the house, they needed permission from city officials.

Update  4:01 p.m.:

The news conference has started. Mayor Pavia said:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the parents, the families and the friends of these people that we lost."

We made every effort to determine the cause of this tragedy so that we may present to you today factual and reliable conclusons."

"One that frustrates us the most is that despite the heroic efforts five people lost their lives in this catastrophic blaze and there's no way we will ever change that."

Original article:

Police and fire officials will be speaking with reporters later this afternoon to provide deeper details on what caused the devastating Christmas Day fire that killed five members of one family, one of the worst in the city's history.

Grandparents Lomer and Pauline Johnson of Southbury and their granddaughters, 10-year-old Lily Badger and 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah Badger, died in the blaze, which began just before 5 a.m. Sunday at 2267 Shippan Ave.

The children's mother, Madonna Badger, was able to escape along with family friend Michael Borcina, a contractor. The Johnsons, Badger's parents, had moved to Connecticut from Kentucky to be closer with their grandchildren.

There is evidence desperate attempts were made to save the girls before firefighters even arrived. The Hartford Courant today reported Lomer Johnson was trying to reach one of the girls and that Madonna Badger tried to race back into the home to get her children but was restrained for her own safety. 

In the aftermath of the fire, eyewitnesses described Badger and Borcina as in a state of severe shock.

The Courant also reported Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia saying today the cause was "fireplace related," echoing other reports that disposed ashes from a yule log may have started the fire. 

The five-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot home, purchased last December for $1.7 million, was initially constructed in 1895 and was undergoing extensive renovation.

The city has been deeply affected by the fire, , now razed to rubble, to pay their respects. 

Several firefighters were injured, though it is not clear how severely.


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