Today, a private wake is being held for the three little girls and their grandparents, who were killed in a devastating fire at their mother's Stamford, Connecticut home on Christmas Day. Now it seems the disposed embers, left in a bag in the mudroom or trash enclosure and believed to be the cause of the fire, were removed from the fireplace because of the girls' concern that Santa Claus would be injured.
The victims: Lomer (dressed as Santa Claus) and Pauline Johnson, with grandchildren Lily, Grace and Sarah
, officials associated with the investigation say the "smoldering embers...had been taken out of a fireplace so the children would not worry about Santa Claus coming down the chimney." Children Lily Badger, 9, and twins Sarah and Grace Badger, 7, died in the intense early morning fire as were their grandparents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson. Their mother Madonna Badger escaped the fire (she was found on scaffolding outside the second floor, trying to rescue her children) as did her boyfriend Michael Borcina, a contractor who had been overseeing renovations on the home. Borcina told investigators he removed the embers and placed the bag of smoldering embers in or near the house.
The home was torn down after the fire, with officials citing safety concerns (the structure was apparently compromised and officials were also worried curious onlookers would try to enter the home). Madonna Badger was seen at the Shippan Avenue site yesterday; the Post reports: "Two men accompanied Badger as she walked bravely past the crime-scene tape and a fence surrounding the property toward her still-standing garage...She was warmly embraced by a small group of supportive girlfriends."
Police have reportedly joined the investigation into the fire. A professor at John Jay College told WCBS 2 that questions they'd ask would likely be, "Was it laziness? Carelessness? An accident? Difficult as those issues are, they need to be explored. And those are issues best explored by investigators, detectives, not the fire marshal." Now it also turns out that Borcina, who has an upscale contracting business, was not licensed to do renovation work in Connecticut.
The funeral for the three sisters is tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at St. Thomas Church, at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in Manhattan.
