Family Tragedy : Gas Kills Simi Boy in Sleep, Overcomes 4

A 5-year-old boy was killed early Tuesday and four members of his family were hospitalized after a blocked furnace pipe forced carbon-monoxide fumes into their Simi Valley home as they slept.

Police were called to the home shortly before noon by a neighbor who is a counselor at Mountain View Elementary School and became worried when the family’s children did not show up at school, Simi Valley Police Lt. Rick TerBorch said.

Officers entered the house in the 1000 block of Mead Avenue through an unlocked door and found all members of the family unconscious, TerBorch said. Derrick Burley, 5, was pronounced dead at Simi Valley Community Hospital.

His brother, Troy, 12, and sister Dawnelle, 6, were taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where they were in stable condition and receiving oxygen therapy, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Their parents, Richard, 37, and Jackie, 34, were taken by helicopter to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where they were in serious condition and undergoing similar therapy, a hospital official said.

6 Officers Overcome

Six police officers also were overcome by fumes and treated with oxygen, police said. One was admitted to Simi Valley Adventist Hospital, where he was in stable condition.

The school counselor, Kathy Welsh, said in an interview that she tried to call the family’s home after the children failed to attend classes. Welsh said she then drove to the home and got no response to her repeated knocks.

Welsh said she called police after returning to school.

Four officers who arrived at the house looked through the windows and saw several unconscious people in the beds, TerBorch said. Police entered the home through an open sliding-glass door in the rear, he said.

TerBorch said the gas apparently had been leaking into the home all night because a furnace pipe was blocked with insulation, preventing the gas from escaping.

The officer who was hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning was identified as Kevin Duncan.