Two in Family Die as Gas Heater Explodes

A girl and her older brother died Monday when a gas wall heater exploded in flames at their Santa Ana duplex.

Their mother was severely burned as she tried in vain to save her children from the 12:39 a.m. blaze, witnesses and fire officials said.

Christine Woodfin, 16, and her brother Jay, 29, died in the explosion. Their mother, Marjorie Woodfin, 55, was burned over half her body. She was reported in serious but stable condition Monday night in the burn unit of UCI Medical Center. Two other sons, David, 19, and Joseph, 25, escaped uninjured.

Jim Hodges, the Woodfins’ landlord of 14 years, said a fireball tore through the duplex when the natural gas wall heater in the living room exploded. Marjorie Woodfin and sons David and Joseph escaped, but intense heat prevented them from rescuing the other two, neighbors said.

The mother already had suffered second- and third-degree burns when she tried repeatedly to re-enter her home for her daughter, said neighbors, who helped pull the woman from a bedroom that was in flames and had to restrain her from going back in. Residents from several blocks away ran to the fire, some dressed in nightclothes, to spray water at the flames.

“She’s screaming to save her daughter, and we can hear her daughter inside screaming for help,” said Maria Theresa Longa, 36, who lives two doors from the Woodfin family. “It was just right through the window, such a little distance. It was just a few minutes, but it seemed like hours. Then there was just no more screaming.”

Santa Ana Deputy Fire Chief James Montgomery said the fire was started by natural gas igniting. Hodges, the owner of the building, said authorities removed the damaged heater. He said a wrench was found near the wall heating unit.

A battalion chief who had been at the fire said initially Monday that Jay Woodfin was working on the heater when a spark from a lamp triggered the explosion. Pam Eaker, the Orange County deputy coroner investigating the deaths, said that the explosion occurred in the heater and that Jay Woodfin’s body was found in the living room, where the heater is located.

But Deputy Chief Montgomery said later that the actual cause of the explosion has not been determined.

Autopsies conducted Monday were inconclusive about the causes of death, which are still being investigated by the Fire Department and coroner’s office.

Joseph Woodfin, who returned briefly with relatives to the boarded-up duplex in the 1800 block of South Cedar Street on Monday afternoon, said something in the home “just exploded and blew lamp parts through the house” next door.

“Me and David and Mom were in the back bedroom,” he said, “and that’s why we could get out.” He declined further comment.

Eaker said the worst damage was in the living room, kitchen and a bedroom in the northeast part of the duplex, where Christine Woodfin died.

The Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross was providing assistance to the family, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

Fire officials estimated damage at $60,000 to the structure and $10,000 to the contents and said the explosion caused most of the property destruction. Hodge said the duplex was gutted, but damage to the exterior was limited to windows blown out by the explosion. The lawn was littered with three beds: one melted, another half burned and a third mostly intact.

Neighbors were organizing efforts to collect money and other donations for the family, who are on welfare, according to Hodge. Those interested in helping the family were asked to contact Longa at (714) 547-1249.

Hodge and neighbors said it did not surprise them that Marjorie Woodfin would risk her life to save her children. They said she was devoted to her children, including a daughter living out of state. Her two youngest, Christine and David, are mentally retarded, Eaker and friends of the family said.

“She had a tough cross to bear,” Hodge said. “But she is a tough lady too. She’s quiet, very reserved. A very, very nice lady. She dedicated her whole life to those kids. And she sure deserved better than this.”