Fatal O.C. Fire Started by Child With a Lighter

A child playing with a cigarette lighter ignited the intense blaze that killed two infants and seriously injured another at a day-care home in Huntington Beach, fire officials said Friday.

While Pat Orozco was in the bathroom, one of four children in her care began playing with a disposable lighter in the living room, said Martha Werth, a public information officer for the Huntington Beach Fire Department. The lighter ignited an overstuffed chair, and the blaze spread quickly to an adjacent playroom.

Both Orozco, 49, and Heidi Sartain, 25, a daughter who lives in the home, smoke.

“I lost my lighter, and I’m a smoker,” Sartain said. “It could have been my lighter, it could have been my mom’s lighter, it could have been anybody’s.”

Investigators speculated that if Orozco had installed smoke detectors in her home, “none of this would have happened,” Werth said. “At worst, they would have gotten out with a few bumps and bruises.”

State fire officials said Friday that the tragedy has prompted them to review sometimes contradictory fire safety requirements regarding fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in day-care homes.

Huntington Beach fire officials also released new details of how the blaze started in the single-story, brown stucco house at 5122 Audrey Drive. Orozco ran from the bathroom at the front of the house through the kitchen and into the living room, where she grabbed 3-year-old Devon Strayer by the hand and lifted 8-month-old Jessica Jordan from a swing, Werth said.

Orozco made her way into the playroom, but dropped Jessica near the doorway after her arm caught fire, Sartain said. Unable to find the baby in the thick smoke, Orozco picked up 6-month-old Nick Duncan and fled through a sliding door into the back yard. Despite rescue efforts by Orozco and several passers-by, Jessica and 13-month-old John W. Reilly IV died of smoke inhalation, Werth said.

The Duncan baby remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition for burns to about 15% of his body.

Because of laws that protect juveniles, Werth declined to identify which child is believed to have started the fire. However, on Thursday fire officials said Devon was the only child in the living room, which is where investigators determined that the blaze began.

Orozco, who is hospitalized in fair condition with second- and third-degree burns to her upper body, was not available for comment Friday. Sartain said her mother remains distraught over the deaths.

“Her main concern is that the families (of the victims) find peace,” Sartain said.

Under state health and safety codes that govern licensing of day-care centers, operators with six or fewer children have the option of equipping their homes with fire extinguishers or smoke detectors, and an inspection by fire officials is not required. Orozco, who is licensed, opted for the fire extinguisher, which investigators think they have recovered in the kitchen.

But state building codes, enforced by the state fire marshal, require that all day-care operators maintain both fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in their homes, said Galen Miller, a supervisor of field operations for the state fire marshal.

Officials conceded that the tragedy might have been avoided had discrepancies in state licensing guidelines been resolved.

“It’s unfortunate these questions are being raised after this tragedy. They should have been answered before,” Miller said. “I’m hoping an answer will come out of this, and, between the state fire marshal and the department of Social Services, we can agree on the proper application of regulations for these facilities.”

Frances Young, a supervisor in the Department of Social Service’s community-care licensing division, said her office had been unaware of the inconsistency in state laws.

“It appears obvious that something was missed, and I am going to instruct our policy people to take a look at this,” she said.

But Young said the less-stringent regulations would continue to be enforced.

“We are not required to inform licensees of other regulations if they are not incorporated into our standards,” she said. “There are all sorts of building codes and local ordinances; where would we draw the line?”

The official, supervisor Steve Viero, said that because of the Huntington Beach fire, the state fire marshal’s office will review existing fire safety regulations to determine if they are adequate.

“Anytime we have a scenario of this type, a review is in order,” he said.

Authorities said that under existing guidelines Orozco cannot be faulted for installing only a fire extinguisher.

Dianne Edwards, director of adult and employment services for the Orange County Social Services Agency, said county officials have no authority to require regulations other than the less-stringent ones included in state health and safety codes.

Young said that until regulations are amended, parents must determine for themselves if they are comfortable leaving their children in a home with no smoke detector.

“All parents who make use of any family day-care center should ask if there is a smoke detector present if they feel that is the safest thing for their child,” she said.

DAY-CARE LICENSING

Family day-care licensing agencies provide the following services:

Set standards that family day-care homes must meet.

Process fingerprint checks on all adults in the home for existing criminal records.

Require tuberculosis tests of care givers.

Investigate complaints.

Visit each home upon receipt of a license application.

Visit 10% of all licensed homes annually.

Visit each home when licenses are renewed.

Deny applications and revoke licenses when necessary.

Source: state Health and Welfare Agency’s Department of Social Services, community care licensing division DAY-CARE SAFETY CHECKS

Parents seeking a good child-care facility may check with one of the 65 state-funded child-care referral centers in California. To contact the closest center, call the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network in San Francisco at (415) 661-1714. Also, parents should visit prospective day-care homes at various times during the day unannounced.

Some safety checks parents can make themselves when visiting day-care homes:

Pools must be surrounded by a fence at least five feet high with a self-latching gate.

Homes caring for infants must not have stairways accessible to the children.

Food preparation areas must be clean and the food must be properly stored in sealed containers or a refrigerator.

Toxic chemicals for cleaning and medicines must be stored in a secured cabinet.

There must be sufficient play areas for the number of children to be cared for in the facility.

Homes should care for no more than six children unless the provider has an assistant (infant ratios are stricter).

Homes should maintain a fire extinguisher or smoke alarm.

Times staff writer Bill Billiter contributed to this story.

‘DEVASTATING’--Child’s death strikes young couple hard. Part II, Page 1.