Hundreds attend Warren vigil for family who died in fire

RELATED: Community helps with funerals for fire victims

efranco@vindy.com

WARREN

The scene of a tragic fire that killed six people last Thursday turned into a scene of love and honor during a candlelight vigil for the victims Tuesday night.

About 200 people gathered outside 911 Landsdowne Ave. NW to honor and remember Audrea Johnson, 31; Derek Dorsey Sr., 30; their two children, Derek Dorsey Jr., 11, and Ariell Dorsey, 9; Derek Sr.’s niece, Miracle Hugley, 9; and Audrea’s niece, Ja’Niece Hicks, 13, of Columbus.

Mattie Vail of Warren, who’s known the family since they moved to the neighborhood, said she helped organized Tuesday’s vigil as a way to show the family members how much their loved ones meant.

“We wanted to really heal our street,” she said. “It’s so wonderful and nice that so many people came here today.”

Edward Benard, Derek Sr.’s father, said he’s been holding on to the good memories of his son and three grandchildren.

“This will always be in my heart,” he said. “Talking about the good memories is the only thing that’s keeping me going.”

Audrea’s father, Daniel Johnson of Columbus, mirrored Benard’s words as the two stood side by side, moved by the number of people supporting their families.

“Words can’t express the pain this flesh feels,” Johnson said. “I ache, I sting, and I’m numb.”

Johnson said for him it’s God, as well as a supportive community that’s helped him through this difficult time.

“What’s helped me most is the love from this community,” he said. “Through this we’re all getting closer.”

Sterling-McCullough Williams Funeral Home is handling arrangements for Audrea Johnson, her two children and Ja’Niece Hicks.

Arrangements for Derek Dorsey Sr. and Miracle Hugley are being handled by Staton-Borowski Funeral Home in Warren.

Services for all six will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday at Believers Christian Fellowship, 2577 Schenley Ave. N.E.

The family died in the early morning hours of June 16 after a charcoal grill ignited their home.

Investigators said they believe the grill sparked 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 the four children were found.

Fire Chief Ken Nussle said he has learned that a relative dropped off Derek Sr. at the home at 3 a.m. He said he suspects that the grill was used sometime between then and 4 a.m., when the fire likely began.

The six fatalities are double the previous high of three in a single fire recorded by Warren Fire Department in 1968, Nussle said.