Friends and co-workers defend mother of kids who died in fire

WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) — The mother of three children killed in an apartment fire blamed on a discarded cigarette shouldn’t be judged as a negligent person, her friends and co-workers said Monday.

Emily Butler had just worked a 12-hour-plus shift as a nurse in a nursing home in southwest Ohio before the fire broke out Saturday, co-workers said. Killed in the fire were her children: Aubrey, 7; Alexander, 5, and Braden, 3.

Firefighters said the blaze came from a cigarette that ignited a living room sofa, and Butler was hospitalized and listed in critical condition from burns and injuries.

Co-workers at Franklin Ridge Nursing Home said in a statement Monday: “She deserves the same kindness and compassion she has always given to those for whom she cares. We love her, support her and hope she can find a way to recover from this terrible loss.”

The state Fire Marshal’s office said Monday that an investigation was continuing, although initial findings indicate that the fire was accidental. It said a final determination wouldn’t be made until after autopsy results were complete and the mother could be interviewed.

“To say that her burns can heal is one thing, but with these three children gone, my daughter is changed forever. She will never be the same,” said Susan Richardson of Middletown, the children’s maternal grandmother.

Grief counselors were at the Lakota Schools buildings Monday where the children had been students.