But his report notes that the severity of the damage made it impossible to identify either where the fire originated, or the specific ignition source. Investigators could not fully rule out the possibility that it could have been set intentionally.
The Montgomery County Coroner determined that the five people found dead inside the property died from exposure to the products of combustion and thermal injuries. Also, toxicology tests revealed they all had narcotics in their systems.
“Due to the extent of the damage at the incident site, and lack of other available evidence, the investigators were unable to determine a cause of the fire to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty and must therefore conclude it as undetermined,” said Dayton fire Captain Brad French. “If additional information becomes available, the Dayton Fire Department will process it accordingly.”
During the early morning hours of March 8, Dayton firefighters responded to and battled a blaze at 508 N. Broadway Street in the Wolf Creek neighborhood.
The property was vacant, but neighbors, city officials and community members said as many as eight homeless people and squatters often illegally hung out in the home and slept inside.
After knocking out the blaze, authorities recovered the bodies of five people: Brittany Lee Alsup, 33; Chrisinda Jo Ray Freeman, 40; Christopher Hermann, 41; Andrew Miller, 30; and Laura Sears, 37.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
A leader at a local hunger relief organization said four of the five people used her group’s services, and a homeless shelter said three of the deceased were in and out of emergency shelters.
Scowden, the fire investigator, said he talked to Jordan Trent and Josh Callahan — two men who claimed they were inside the home during the fire but managed to escape, according to a fire incident report.
Both men told Scowden that they were sleeping in the home with other squatters and woke up to discover smoke and rapidly spreading flames.
Trent told investigators that multiple people were staying in the house, and that some occupants used makeshift, open-flame heating devices to try to stay warm.
Trent also told the Dayton Daily News the same thing during interviews shortly after the fire.
Trent told investigators some squatters tried to stay warm by placing toilet paper rolls soaked in alcohol or hand sanitizer in coffee cans and then lit the rolls on fire.
In his report, Scowden wrote that he could not identify where the fire started or what caused it but he was able to rule out possible ignition sources, including electrical and natural gas appliances and devices and building components.
Scowden said he could not rule out the possibility that the fire was started by incendiary ignition sources or other human acts, such as warming activities, cooking fires or open-flame devices, like candles for lighting.
“Because there is insufficient information to support one specific hypothesis of fire ignition, I cannot, to a reasonable level of scientific certainty, conclude the cause of the fire to be anything other than undetermined,” he wrote. “Even though I cannot rule out incendiary ignition sources, there was also no substantial, credible information to support the hypothesis that the fire was an intentional criminal act.”
He also noted that statements and information provided by the two people who escaped the fire supports the theory that the trespassers in the building were utilizing makeshift, open-flame devices to try to keep warm.
Examinations by the Montgomery County Coroner found that all five victims had high levels of carbon monoxide in their systems, large amounts of soot deep in the lungs and drugs in their blood.
The coroner said all five died after inhaling the products of combustion, but Freeman, Hermann and Sears also suffered thermal injuries that also likely played a role.
The deceased had methamphetamines and amphetamines in their systems, and Miller and Sears also tested positive for fentanyl, coroner reports say.
“The combination of carbon monoxide and the impairing effects of drugs, lack of smoke detectors, and the use of makeshift open-flame warming devices all contributed to the inability of the victims to escape the fire on their own,” Scowden’s incident report says.
City and fire officials earlier this year said this was one of the most tragic and deadly fires in Dayton’s history.
Alsup’s mother, Tawana Golding, told this newspaper that she believes the fire likely was deliberately set and that an accelerant was used, based on the fire’s intense heat and rapid spread.
“I do not think it was an accident,” she said.
Golding said she’s having a hard time dealing with her daughter’s death because she believes she does not have answers to important questions, like exactly how and when Alsup died.
Golding said her daughter struggled with paranoid schizophrenia, manic depression, multiple personality disorder and bipolar disorder.
“My only comfort is knowing her demons are gone, she is at peace,” her mother said. “However those of us left behind (to) pick up the pieces need and deserve answers.”
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