House Fire Started By Boy With Lighter

The house fire that killed 5-year-old Samantha McGilvra last week was started by her 3-year-old brother playing with a cigarette lighter, Stevens County Fire Marshal Dave Jones said Wednesday.

Jones said the boy told authorities he was playing with a lighter on his bed when the flame accidentally ignited the bedding. The fire spread rapidly throughout the two-bedroom house, Jones said.

The children’s mother, Lena McGilvra, and her baby were out of the house when the fire started about 9 a.m. March 26. McGilvra’s boyfriend, Craig Sheppard, told investigators he was lying on a couch in the living room when he saw flames behind the 3-year-old.

Sheppard said he hustled the boy outside and went back for the girl, who was in the other bedroom, but intense flames kept him from reaching her.

Equipped with protective clothing and respirators, volunteer firefighters Joe Hirsch and Mel Fox entered the girl’s room through a window and got her out. She showed no signs of life, but was revived before she died early the following morning at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Fire Chief Rick Naff said the victim had second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body, but doctors reported she died from inhaling superheated smoke.

Jones said the house had a smoke detector that apparently lacked a battery.

, DataTimes