| Five children ranging in age from 6 months to 12 years died yesterday when a smoky predawn fire consumed two apartments over the garage of a funeral home in Riverhead, L.I.
Three adults, including two mothers, survived by hurling themselves through windows to the ground, where a neighbor said he could hear the women screaming: "Our babies. Our babies are inside. You have to save them."
But neither neighbors nor the efforts of 70 volunteer firefighters could overcome the smoke and flames that killed the children in their bedrooms.
Dan Willis, who lives next door at 713 Harrison Avenue, said he was watching television and was about to go to bed when he heard the commotion outside. "To hear women screaming like that for their kids was terrible," he said. He dialed 911 and tried to save the children, he said, but was forced back from the building by the dense smoke and heat.
Mr. Willis said the victims of the fire had lived in the building for three months at most, adding, "They were pretty good kids."
The fire broke out shortly after 4 A.M. at 711 Harrison Avenue, across from Riverhead High School, in a building behind the Seay Memorial Chapel, a funeral home. The Suffolk County police said they were investigating the possibility of arson, and neighbors speculated that the fire might have been set by the ex-boyfriend of a former resident of the apartments.
But as a trained dog sniffed for accelerants that might have fueled the blaze, Detective Sgt. Edward Fandrey of the Suffolk County police brushed conjecture aside, saying only, "Right now, we're dealing with the tragic death of five very young people."
Although neighbors wondered if the building, with only a single entrance and exit, met safety standards, Dennis Nowak, assistant to the county's social services commissioner, said that it had been inspected within the last three months and that "we didn't observe any health or safety violations."
Mr. Nowak, who said state law barred him from saying whether the building's residents were receiving public assistance, added that the inspection found that the apartments had smoke detectors and a fire exit.
Authorities identified three of the dead as children of Roger Gregory and Tina Fay, both 25: Raheem, 6 months; T'Keyah, 23 months, and Roger, 3. Also killed were Anthony Price, 3, who was the son of Tammy Price, 22; and Letitia Booker, 12, who was found with the children in the apartment of Mr. Gregory and Ms. Fay and identified by the police as a baby sitter.
Of the adults, Ms. Fay was the most seriously injured. She was in critical but stable condition at the burn center of Stony Brook Medical Center, where a spokeswoman said she had suffered second-degree burns of her shoulders, arms and face that covered 15 to 20 percent of her body.
Ms. Price and Mr. Gregory were in stable condition at Central Suffolk Hospital in Riverhead. Ms. Price sustained first- and second-degree burns of her face and forearm, and Mr. Gregory had second-degree burns on his back and hand.
Some neighbors speculated that the fire had been started by the abusive former boyfriend of a woman who lived in one of the garage apartments until a few months ago and who visited Tina Fay frequently.
April Blanton, 12, a friend of Letitia Booker, said of the man: "He's crazy. Somebody messing with him, he'll start a fire." Several other youngsters echoed her.
The police said all fires resulting in death are investigated for homicide.
Sergeant Fandrey said Ms. Price woke up smelling smoke around 4 A.M. in her apartment in the building, which is constructed of cinder block topped with wood framing and asbestos siding. Leaving her son behind, she ran next door to alert Mr. Gregory, but she was unable to return to her apartment to get the boy.
At the Seay Memorial Chapel, an unidentified woman who answered the telephone said the building, which also serves as a four-car garage, was owned by Carlton Seay. Mr. Seay could not immediately be reached for comment.
April Blanton, who lives at 759 Harrison Avenue, described Letitia Booker as her best friend. "We were playing cards and stuff, laughing and joking last night," she said. "I was going to spend the night over there, but then my mother said no. She had a feeling something would happen." |
