Coroner: Smoke inhalation likely caused deaths of Youngstown family members
Authorities don't believe that anyone intentionally caused the deaths of a mother and two children in a Youngstown house fire.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Authorities don't believe that anyone intentionally caused the deaths of a mother and two children in a Youngstown house fire.
That view is shared by Mahoning County Deputy Coroner and Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Joseph Ohr and Youngstown Fire Chief John O'Neill.
Nakema Autry, 24, Jimmia Moore, 8 months old, and Quincy Autry, 2 years old, died in a fire late Tuesday when fire spread through their home at 1524 Bryson Street.
Dr. Ohr says his preliminary investigation indicates that the three died from smoke inhalation.
Chief O'Neill told reporters on Wednesday that there is no evidence indicating that the house fire that claimed the lives of three people and injured five firefighters was intentionally set.
The State Fire Marshall is investigating and believes the fire started near the front of the home, somewhere between the first floor and the basement. Investigators say an electrical malfunction cannot be ruled out.
Youngstown firefighters were called out at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday to the two-and-a-half story wooden frame home.
Initial calls to the department claimed that the home may be occupied, and people were trapped inside.
Neil Autry says he was watching TV with his wife on the first floor of their home when he heard a pop sound in the front room of the house. He saw flames in that room shortly afterward. He tried to get upstairs to help his daughter and grandchildren, but the flames were too intense. He and his wife escaped out of the side door.
"It's a hard pill to swallow and there ain't nothing you can do about it. If you can't get up there, you can't get up there. I tried like hell to get up there but I just couldn't make it," Neil Autry said.
Autry tells 21 News a space heater was in the front room of the home where he saw flames, but says it hadn't been used for a few days because it was warm outside.
Several fire crews spent much of the night containing the flames. Other departments were called in as back up. This morning, the Youngstown Fire Department was called back out to the scene on two different occasions to extinguish hot spots.
Five firefighters were injured. One sustained burned knees. Another received second degree burns on his knees and face. A third reported a twisted knee.
The identities of the firefighters have not been made public.
As a second alarm was called a few minutes after the initial fire call, flames could be seen pouring from the upper portion of the home.
Forty minutes after the first call, a third alarm was broadcast, bringing more equipment to help firefighters battle the blaze.
“Under any other circumstances, this would have been a building you wouldn't want to enter at all with that kind of fire, but with victims inside, those rules change,” says Youngstown Fire Chief John O'Neill.
Police were called to control an increasing number of people flocking to the scene, and to block the street to vehicular traffic between Saranac and Thornton Avenues.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. Investigators do not believe this fire is related to recent arson blazes at vacant homes in Youngstown.
