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Investigator: Fatal fire started in basement
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The three people who died in their Powers Way home in a fire early Monday were all found out of their beds.
Fire Chief John O’Neill said William and Judith Schmidt and their 10-year-old granddaughter Corinne Gump were found in an upstairs bedroom but all were out of bed. He said that by the way all three were positioned, it looked as if they were trying to get out.
People stopped by the house Tuesday to leave stuffed animals and Easter baskets on the front lawn of the 3631 Powers Way home. Fire investigators, including representatives from the state fire marshals office and city fire Capt. Alvin Ware of the Fire Investigation Unit also returned, as did one of the special dogs the fire marshals office uses to sniff for accelerants.
Ware said the blaze broke out about 3:30 a.m. and started in the basement, but he would not give any other details, saying the case is still under investigation.
David Rowbotham and his wife Gina were putting mementos on the front lawn. Rowbotham said people have been dropping things off at his house about a half-dozen doors up, and he has been shuttling them to the home.
He said he did not know the Schmidts or their granddaughter well, but he still was upset about their deaths.
“You don’t have to know somebody to love them and care for them,” Rowbotham said.
Dr. Joseph Ohr, the Mahoning County forensic pathologist, said the three victims died of smoke inhalation.
On Monday, investigators said nothing indicated any criminal actions behind the fire. Suspicions have been raised because the granddaughter who died was the lead victim in a rape case. The defendant, Robert Seman, 47, was to go on trial Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Maureen Sweeney revoked Seman’s bond Monday during a hearing at which prosecutors said a woman told them Seman had offered her $10,000 to tell prosecutors the girl lied to investigators. Seman is set for a bond hearing, but that has not been set and his trial has been put in question because of the girl’s death.
Friends of the granddaughter said she had been abandoned by her mother and left with the Schmidts. The mother, Lynn Schmidt, was questioned by police Monday. Schmidt is Seman’s boyfriend, authorities said.
Rowbotham said he was up early Monday getting ready for work and cooking when he heard the Schmidts’ house explode. He said he called 911, ran outside and started knocking on other doors to alert people of the fire. He said it looked as if flames started coming from the basement and then spread throughout the home. He added the high winds that morning seemed to fuel the blaze.
A man who lives down the street, Jim Moody, also dropped off some items at the makeshift memorial. He said as a father of young children the fire was particularly upsetting.
“Something like that hits at a parent’s heart all the time,” Moody said.