Copyright 2005 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Neighbors, officers tried to get through smoky blaze to reach children
By BOB PURVIS and JOHN DIEDRICH
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Two toddlers killed in a Wednesday afternoon fire on Milwaukee’s west side were likely playing with matches in a home with six smoke detectors that did not work, authorities said.
Santos Garza, 3, and his sister, Ruth Garza, 2, who celebrated her birthday Tuesday, were identified as the victims, said Capt. Eric Moore of the Milwaukee Police Department, who also gave a suspected cause of the fire.
The deaths bring Milwaukee’s year-to-date fire fatality total to 13, the highest total since 1997, when there were 15.
The children were found together in a first-floor bedroom in the home, in the 3700 block of W. Brown St., said acting Deputy Chief Tom Jones. The children’s mother was home at the time in another bedroom and escaped without injury, Jones said.
A police officer and a bystander who tried to save the children were treated for smoke inhalation, Jones said.
The fire, which started shortly after 2 p.m., was concentrated in the bedroom of the duplex where the children were found. About one-third of the first floor was damaged, Jones said.
Milwaukee police Officer Gregg Duran was running a speed gun around 2 p.m. when he received the call: “working fire, two babies in the house.”
A 14-year veteran assigned to the motorcycle unit, he headed over, expecting to direct traffic. He arrived at the same time as fellow cycle officer, Thomas Jurkowski, parking in a cloud of smoke filling the street.
They saw about 10 people at a back door, trying to get in.
“They were all kicking at the door and screaming, ‘there are babies in the house, babies in the house,’ ” Duran said. “Everyone was taking turns kicking the door, and I took my turn. It wasn’t budging.”
Duran ran to a window, threw a board through and started yelling, hoping a child would come to the window. No luck.
He went back to the door and it finally popped opened. Just then firefighters pulled up and scurried to put on their masks to enter the burning house.
Duran called to Jurkowski, but the 15-year veteran already had disappeared into the dense black smoke, trying to find the children. After several seconds, Jurkowski emerged, violently hacking, Duran said. Jurkowski made it just 10 feet to the kitchen door, which was hot and locked, Duran said.
The smoke was so dense, Duran took in the smoke and began coughing just standing outside. A man trying to knock down the door also got smoke inhalation standing outside, he said.
Duran was hopeful when the firefighters charged in that they could save the children. But after 10 minutes, a firefighter emerged carrying one of the children, who was dead, as was the second child.
“You feel like, ‘God, could we have been there seconds earlier?’ You wish you could have done more,” he said.
Upstairs escape
A woman who lived upstairs was able to escape with her two children when the smell of smoke drifted into her apartment from under a stairwell door. She looked out the window to see a column of smoke pouring from a downstairs window.
“She told me she just saw the smoke and came to the kitchen to grab her two children and ran outside,” said Chue Vang, the owner of the building and uncle of the woman who lived upstairs.
Vang translated for his niece, who emigrated recently from Thailand.
“The lady inside just came out and screamed ‘Help, help! My children are in the house,’ ” Vang said. In the meantime, his niece ran to a next-door neighbor screaming for help.
‘It’s just disheartening’
That neighbor, Armin Doneis Jr., said police and fire crews were on the scene within seconds after his call.
State fire marshals were investigating the cause of the fire, said 2nd Battalion Chief Edward Chitel.
Chitel said Fire Department officials visited the area recently, passing out smoke detectors.
Of six alarms that were located in the home, none was functional, Chitel said.
“What’s unfortunate is that they did not have the early warning,” Chitel said. “The department works very hard in these neighborhoods to get the word out . . . it’s just disheartening.”