Published: January 20, 2008 09:22 pm      

RIDGEWAY: Four family members are killed in Slade Road blaze

RIDGEWAY — Fire investigators say an improperly covered power strip caused a house fire that killed four family members late Wednesday night on Slade Road in the Town of Ridgeway. Officials said the cause was accidental.

Anna M. Monagan, 56; her daughter, April D. Hausler, 31; and grandchildren James Hausler, 10, and Dawn M. Hausler, 7, died in the fire, which was reported to the Orleans County 911 Center at 11:47 p.m.

Six people occupied the house at the time of the fire. James S. Monagan, 57, and his grandson, Donald J. Monagan, 14, were able to escape from the burning structure. Donald Monagan, a nephew to April Hausler, did not sustain any injury. However, James Monagan was transported to Medina Memorial Hospital and later transferred to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo for burn trauma. He was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon.

Ridgeway firefighters arrived at the Slade Road scene to find the two-story home fully engulfed in flames, according to a press release from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department. The fire was under control by approximately 3 a.m. Thursday, said Ridgeway Assistant Fire Chief Chris Seefeldt.

“There was a lot of fire coming from the rear of the residence when we got on the scene,” Seefeldt said. “When we first got on the scene, we did initial interior attack; but within a half hour, we had to back everybody out of the house because it was so intense.”

Seefeldt said firefighters did not go back into the house to battle the blaze from the inside, and instead began an exterior search looking into the structure to find the family. Firefighters were able to locate the first three victims and had to wait until daylight to continue the search for 10-year-old James Hausler.

Orleans County Coroner Scott Schmidt said when he arrived at the scene, the home was engulfed in flames, and volunteer firefighters were tirelessly searching for the family still inside the burning structure. Schmidt said he pronounced three of the four deaths at the scene around 2:30 a.m. as firefighters continued to search for the boy. He was pronounced dead at approximately 6 a.m., Schmidt said.

“A tragedy is the only way to put it,” he said.

The fire was ruled accidental late Thursday afternoon by the Orleans County Office of Emergency Management and the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, who were at the site most of the day.

Investigators determined the cause of the fire was an electrical problem stemming from a power strip located in one of the bedrooms, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Department sent out at approximately 4 p.m. Thursday.

A night light was plugged into the power strip, which was plugged into a wall outlet, and there were several articles of clothing piled on top of the power strip as well as books and magazines, according to the press release.

It appeared that there were working heat detectors within the home. However, at the time of the release, it was still uncertain if any smoke detectors existed and if so, whether they were operational.

“We didn’t see any (smoke detectors), but due to the amount of fire inside the structure they may have melted if there were any,” Seefeldt said.

The cause of death had yet to be determined Thursday afternoon. The deceased were taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rochester for autopsy to “rule out foul play,” Schmidt said.

Orleans County Chief Deputy Thomas Drennan arrived at the scene around 12:30 a.m. and said there were at least eight fire companies that responded to the call. First on the scene, Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Medina, Lyndonville, Shelby and Holley fire departments. Mutual aid standby was provided by Albion, Hartland and Barker fire departments.

Drennan said it took fire crews a couple of hours to put out the fire. Next was an overhaul of what remained of the structure, with firefighters checking for hot spots in the eaves and partitions of the structure.

Schmidt commended the volunteer firefighters who responded to the scene and continued to work to extinguish the flames, saying that they are a caring group of people who, though all from different companies, pulled together through the tragedy to find the victims inside.

“I can’t stress enough to you how fabulous our volunteer firefighters are. Their untiring efforts to search for the boy ... ,” Schmidt said. “(They) went above and beyond.”

New York State Police from Troop A Headquarters in Batavia assisted investigators at the scene with a portable X-ray unit, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

There will be a stress debriefing at 7 p.m. tonight at the Medina Fire Department for firefighters who responded to the scene.

Contact reporter Miranda Vagg at 798-1400, ext. 2225.