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THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, DECEMBER 21,1999 PAGE A3 Fire described as worst inferno in decade Third small child perishes in townhouse blaze BY STEPHEN SHAW Stuff Writer A six-year-old girl described by family members as an "angel" has become die third young victim victim of a deadly weekend town- house blaze which officials are calling the city's worst lire tragedy in more than a decade. Sarah Ann Dorrian died Sunday Sunday at Sick Children's Hospital after being removed from life support. The child's heart, lungs and other internal organs were donated donated to three children in need of transplants. Sarah was in the upstairs of the townhouse with Stephanie Dawn Davenport, 11. and sister Nicole Christine Davenport,' 7, who were spending the weekend with their lather when the lire broke out Saturday. The girls were rescued from the second-story bedroom, in unit 69 of the complex at 1100 Oxford Oxford Street, but the Davenport sisters were pronounced dead shortly alter arriving at Lak- eridge Health Oshawa, police said. Sarah had stayed at the residence residence overnight along with her mother, Kim, who lives in the complex. The sisters' 10-year-old brother, brother, Johnny Davenport, managed to escape the blaze by jumping from a second-floor window and crawling to a neighbour's unit. He was treated at hospital for smoke inhalation and bumps and bruises and was released Sunday. Kim Dorrian, believed to have been babysitting when the lire broke out, was pulled out by firelighters firelighters through a basement window. window. She was treated for smoke inhalation. SARAH DORRIAN Police said shortly before the blaze John Davenport left the home to drive a friend to work in Ajax. When he returned about a half-hour later, the townhouse was engulfed. Fire prevention officer Mike Coombs said Mr. Davenport kicked in the front door of the house in an attempt to get to the children but was forced back by a blast of smoke and liâmes. He suffered facial burns as a result of being singed and was also treated at hospital. Officials said Johnny was asleep in a separate second-floor bedroom when lie was awakened by the fire. He rushed through the house trying desperately to alert the others, others, but was unable to wake the girls. It's believed they were already already unconscious. Sergeant Jim Grimlcy, police spokesman, said the young boy escaped by jumping out of a second-floor second-floor window, which he smashed using a dresser drawer. Injured from the fall, he crawled on his hands and knees and knocked on a neighbour's door crying for help. NICOLE DAVENPORT "He said "Please help me, sir. Please help me. My house is on lire and my sisters are trapped upstairs.' He was hurt bad, couldn't couldn't get up on his legs," said neighbour Major Leslie, 73. The Korean War veteran said he told his stepdaughter Audrey to call 9ll and immediately rushed to unit 69 hoping to save the children. He got only as far as the hallway. hallway. "I wanted to go and get them out of there. There was too much blaze, too much smoke. The flames were bright red, like a fireplace... I just wished I could have saved them," Mr. Leslie said, choking back tears. Flames were shooting out from the main and second floor windows when the first Oshawa fire crew, from Station 2, arrived at the complex at about 7:50 a.m. Firefighters had to bring the blaze under control on the ground floor before they could rescue the children. "When they made access to the second floor they were confronted confronted by more flames in the hallway," said fire prevention of- STEPHANIE DAVENPORT fiiccr Coombs. He said the lire started on the main floor and quickly consumed the small townhouse. Resident Brian Parnell was alerted to the lire by his wife's screams. "It seemed like the liâmes went from the downstairs up the whole house in a matter of seconds." He watched as firelighters emerged from the home carrying two of the girls in their arms. They and paramedics performed CPR but could not revive them. "When I saw the children being pulled out I just broke down," said Mr. Parnell with his wife, Joan, and their six-year-old daughter, Kaitlin, by his side. Fire Officer Coombs said because because of the size of the town- house "the heat and the gases build up very quickly causing the contents to reach ignition temperatures... temperatures... "Once the heat breaks the windows the fresh air would come in and cause the room to flash over." Firelighter Joe The rien cut his hand on broken glass while pulling Ms. Dorrian from the basement; Captain Chris Griffin suffered a back injury during the rescue. The Davenport children had lived in the complex until the end of September when they moved to Lindsay with their mother, Ingrid Ingrid Chaulkcr. They returned to visit their father, a General Motors Motors worker, every other weekend. weekend. The six-year-old, meanwhile, lived with her father, Stuart, on Nonquon Road and was spending spending the weekend with Ms. Dorrian, Dorrian, a neighbour in the townhouse complex. It's the first fatal fire of the year in Oshawa. Investigators from the Oshawa Oshawa fire department and the Ontario Ontario Fire Marshal's office began an interior examination of the home yesterday, studying burn patterns and looking for clues to determine how the lire started. It may take several days before before the cause is known. An electrical electrical engineer was helping with the probe. Investigator Jim McBride said the preliminary results results of post mortems performed Sunday indicate the Davenport sisters died of smoke inhalation, but added the causes of their deaths must still be confirmed by pathological tests. Police, said there were smoke detectors in the townhouse, but fire investigators don't know if they were operational at the time of the lire. "The first crew to arrive arrive didn't hear any smoke alarms," Officer Coombs said. He said the tragedy has devastated devastated some firelighters. "I know they are going through a hard time with this. Dealing with a lire fatality is always difficult but when you have multiple fatalities of children, and just before Christmas, it is especially difficult," difficult," said Officer Coombs. Over the weekend shaken residents residents of the townhouse complex gathered with their children behind behind the yellow tape at the scene and expressed sadness over the deaths. Jacqueline Howitt, I0, said she and other neighbourhood children often played soccer, basketball, basketball, baseball and hidc-and-go seek with the Davenport sisters. "They were nice to us... Stephanie was so nice. If she saw there was a new person she would always try to be their friend, like give them hugs," said Jacqueline. Neighbour Keith Robertson, 33, said the whole community is mourning the deaths. "It's such a tight community. This is a family area and when there arc kids involved, especially especially around Christmas, it just makes your stomach turn. You just can't comprehend what a tragedy it is for these families," said Mr. Robertson, whose live- year-old son would sometimes play with the girls in the parkctlc in the complex. Mr. Robertson and other residents residents said the lire prompted them to check the smoke alarm in their units. 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