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... she also advised that she had two cats in the house...."
This from the Fire Fighter forum....
(I found another article, below)
She knew how many cats she was responsible for that day, just not kids.
HOW does that happen?????
By MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch
A 1-year-old Chesterfield County boy fatally injured in Tuesday’s fire at a Midlothian home day care without working smoke detectors was found by firefighters strapped in an overturned car seat on the second-floor during a second sweep of the house, a fire incident report says.
Day care operator Laurie Underwood initially provided fire officials with an inaccurate count of children in her care, telling them she had been watching seven kids and all had been evacuated safely. But fire officials informed her that with the child they rescued and took to the hospital, they counted eight children, the report says.
A Chesterfield fire marshal then had Underwood write a list of the the children and “we found paperwork that listed all the kids in her care.” Between the paperwork and list, fire officials counted 10 children, prompting the fire marshal to alert the incident commander “of the possibility of two additional missing kids,” according to the report.
Firefighters were then sent back into the house to look for additional children on both floors of the house and inside a room above the garage, but none was found. About an hour later, Chesterfield police and the fire marshal’s office determined that two children they thought may still be missing actually hadn’t shown up to the day care that day, the report says.
It was during the secondary search of the home, after the fire largely had been extinguished, that a fire crew searching the second floor soon found a child car seat/carrier upside down in a bedroom. When they turned it over, a child was found strapped in. “Notifications were made over the radio and the child was removed from the car seat/carrier and quickly removed from the structure,” the report says.
Joseph Matthew Allen was immediately taken to St. Francis Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and, after being stabilized there, was transferred to VCU Medical Center, where he died early Wednesday.
The report indicates that Underwood, who did not have a required state license to operate a home day-care for eight children, was questioned several times about the number of children in her care. She told one fire official twice that everyone had been evacuated. She also advised that she had two cats that were still inside.
Chesterfield fire Lt. Jason Elmore on Tuesday noted that Underwood was very distraught “trying to get everyone out of the home” and her emotional state likely contributed to the miscount.
Asked about what conclusions officials may have drawn about the boy being found strapped in an overturned car seat, Elmore declined to speculate on how he ended up in that position. “The location of Joseph Allen is part of the active investigation,” he said.
The report said at least one smoke detector failed to operate because it was missing batteries. Asked to elaborate, Elmore said investigators found at least two inoperable smoke detectors. “The homeowner discovered the fire in the garage prior to smoke entering the home where the alarms were located,” he noted.
Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire, which started inside the attached garage. Elmore said a determination may take until the middle of next week at the earliest.
This from the Fire Fighter forum....
(I found another article, below)She knew how many cats she was responsible for that day, just not kids.
HOW does that happen?????
By MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch
A 1-year-old Chesterfield County boy fatally injured in Tuesday’s fire at a Midlothian home day care without working smoke detectors was found by firefighters strapped in an overturned car seat on the second-floor during a second sweep of the house, a fire incident report says.
Day care operator Laurie Underwood initially provided fire officials with an inaccurate count of children in her care, telling them she had been watching seven kids and all had been evacuated safely. But fire officials informed her that with the child they rescued and took to the hospital, they counted eight children, the report says.
A Chesterfield fire marshal then had Underwood write a list of the the children and “we found paperwork that listed all the kids in her care.” Between the paperwork and list, fire officials counted 10 children, prompting the fire marshal to alert the incident commander “of the possibility of two additional missing kids,” according to the report.
Firefighters were then sent back into the house to look for additional children on both floors of the house and inside a room above the garage, but none was found. About an hour later, Chesterfield police and the fire marshal’s office determined that two children they thought may still be missing actually hadn’t shown up to the day care that day, the report says.
It was during the secondary search of the home, after the fire largely had been extinguished, that a fire crew searching the second floor soon found a child car seat/carrier upside down in a bedroom. When they turned it over, a child was found strapped in. “Notifications were made over the radio and the child was removed from the car seat/carrier and quickly removed from the structure,” the report says.
Joseph Matthew Allen was immediately taken to St. Francis Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and, after being stabilized there, was transferred to VCU Medical Center, where he died early Wednesday.
The report indicates that Underwood, who did not have a required state license to operate a home day-care for eight children, was questioned several times about the number of children in her care. She told one fire official twice that everyone had been evacuated. She also advised that she had two cats that were still inside.
Chesterfield fire Lt. Jason Elmore on Tuesday noted that Underwood was very distraught “trying to get everyone out of the home” and her emotional state likely contributed to the miscount.
Asked about what conclusions officials may have drawn about the boy being found strapped in an overturned car seat, Elmore declined to speculate on how he ended up in that position. “The location of Joseph Allen is part of the active investigation,” he said.
The report said at least one smoke detector failed to operate because it was missing batteries. Asked to elaborate, Elmore said investigators found at least two inoperable smoke detectors. “The homeowner discovered the fire in the garage prior to smoke entering the home where the alarms were located,” he noted.
Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire, which started inside the attached garage. Elmore said a determination may take until the middle of next week at the earliest.
Potty training, nap battles and crying. We know the triggers, but nobody wants to talk about it. Could not happen to them... always someone else. (Lynchburg Virginia Sept 2014, Linda Holmes, Constance Gilbert Sept. 2014, Alabama, too)
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