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Fire probe targets grill
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Teddy bears and other mementos are placed in memoriam around a shrub at 911 Landsdowne Ave. NW, Warren, where six people — two adults and four children — were killed in a Thursday morning house fire.
FOR THE FAMILY
Huntington National Bank has set up an account for public donations for the family of six killed in a fire Thursday on Landsdowne Avenue in Warren. Donations will be accepted under the name of Johnson-Dorsey in all Huntington Bank branches in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
for SUPPORT
Valley Counseling Services provides counseling for children at 318 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren. Phone: 330-395-9563.
24-hour “supportive listening” and referrals are available through Trumbull 211, run by Community Solutions, 320 High Street NE, Warren. Phone: 330-393-1565. Or, on most land-line phones, just call 211.
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Derek Dorsey Jr.
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Derek Dorsey
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Miracle Hugley
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Ariell Dorsey
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Audrey Johnson
Six Dead in Warren Fire
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WARREN — A family of four plus two children spending the night died in an early-morning house fire on Landsdowne Avenue Northwest today. Firefighters don’t know yet what caused the fire or where it started but believe it had been burning quite a while before a neighbor became aware of it and called 911. Firefighters performed CPR on several of the victims, but it’s possible all six were dead when they were removed from the Cape Cod-style house. The four children were found in the attic, where the fire caused the majority of its damage, while the two adults were found on the first floor.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
New information received by the Warren Fire Department apparently sheds some light on why an unattended charcoal grill started a fire Thursday morning on the back porch of a Landsdowne Avenue Northwest home that killed all six people.
“The charcoal grill may have been used as late as 3 a.m.,” Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle said Friday, adding that the grill was touching the vinyl siding on the back of the house.
Investigators said they believe the grill ignited the vinyl siding it was touching and led to fire moving up a nearby wooden fence and the back of the house.
The most significant fire damage was done to the Cape Cod-style house’s top floor, where the bodies of four children were found.
Nussle said he has learned that a relative dropped off Derek Dorsey, 30, at the home at 3 a.m. Nussle said he suspects that the grill was used sometime thereafter.
“If [the grill] had been used in the evening, [the fire] would have started much earlier,” Nussle said.
Nussle said he believes the fire, which was reported by a neighbor at 4:43 a.m., probably started a little after 4 a.m.
Derek Dorsey and Audrey Johnson, 30, along with their children, Derek Jr., 11, and Ariell, 9, died in the fire. Derek and Audrey were found in a downstairs bedroom — Audrey in bed, Derek on the floor nearby.
Also killed were a cousin of the Dorseys, Miracle Hugley, 9, of Warren, and a niece of Johnson, Ja’Niece Hicks, 13, of Columbus.
Dr. Humprhey Germaniuk, Trumbull County coroner, performed autopsies on all six victims Thursday and Friday and will rule on the cause of death in about eight weeks, after he receives results of further tests, such as blood work.
Nussle said it’s not hard to imagine that a charcoal grill used at 3 a.m. that was left near vinyl siding could have caused the fire because vinyl siding is a petroleum-based product, and it can burn rapidly.
Nussle said a smoke detector might have alerted the victims to the fire in time to save them.
“It would have increased the chance of survival greatly,” Nussle said of a smoke detector. “They would have been alerted much more quickly.”
The tragedy, the largest single loss of life of any fire in Warren history, already has reminded several people of the importance of smoke detectors, Nussle said.
Four to five people stopped at the Warren Fire Department to pick up free fire detectors Friday morning, Nussle said, adding that the department had about 70 of them to give away earlier in the week.
“If you don’t have a smoke detector in your house, get them,” Nussle said. “Tragedy always happens to someone else. That’s not the case,” he said.
As for grills, Nussle said either the gas or charcoal variety need to be kept at least 3 feet from vinyl siding or anything else that can catch fire.
Nussle advocates changing the batteries in a smoke detector every time the time changes in the spring and fall.
In newer construction, most smoke detectors are hard-wired with a battery backup, but most Warren homes contain battery-operated detectors with no electricity running to them.
Smoke detectors should be tested monthly.