No Arson In Fatal House Blaze Six Children Died Sept. 27; Officials Mum About Cause

The official overseeing the investigation into the most deadly house fire in Idaho said no evidence of arson has been found.

Rexburg/Madison County Fire Chief Spencer Larsen would only say what has been ruled out as the cause of the early morning blaze that killed six children Sept. 27.

He would not release details about what started the fire in the home near the small farming town of Archer.

“We didn’t find anything to indicate there was any criminal activity as far as the cause of the fire,” Larsen said.

The fire analysis and a parallel state investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths were turned over to Madison County Prosecutor Sid Brown in December. Brown is reviewing the results to determine if any criminal charges should be filed.

Officials are tight-lipped about details of the fire or what criminal charges are being considered.

Brown said he did not expect to reach a decision about criminal charges until the end of January.

Relatives of the six children learned details of the investigation in a series of mid-December meetings with investigators, said Craig Peterson of the state Criminal Investigation Bureau.

A relative claimed investigators said criminal charges were being considered against the two adults living in the home, Todd Morris and Cindy Johnson, because the children were left without adult supervision when the fire began.

Neither Morris nor Johnson have said where they were when the fire began. Becky Morast, an aunt of three of the children who died, has said the couple was driving her to her Idaho Falls home shortly before the fire was reported. She is Cindy Johnson’s sister.

Ten sleeping children were in the house when the fire began, investigators said. The oldest was 12-year-old Eric Johnson.

The three adults left him in charge when they drove to Idaho Falls at around 1 a.m., Morast has said. The boy and three other children escaped the blaze shortly before it was reported to police at 3:28 a.m. The children killed in the fire were between 5 and 10.