Elderly Pair, 2 Foster Sons Die in Blaze : Cigarette Blamed for Home Fire; 3rd Child in Critical Condition

An elderly couple and their two foster sons were killed and a foster daughter was critically injured when flames swept through a South Los Angeles home as they slept, authorities said Friday.

The victims were found in three separate bedrooms of a single-story residence in the 700 block of West 138th Street.

Critical Condition

Killed by smoke inhalation were David and Hazel Evans, both 71; Christopher Michael Gant, 10, and Everett Evans, 13. Also overcome by smoke was Jeminica Hicks, 14, who was listed in critical condition Friday at Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center.

Fire officials said the blaze erupted after someone left a cigarette smoldering in the family room.

Firefighters who happened to be passing the house saw smoke billowing from the den at the back of the house at about 11:40 p.m. Thursday, according to Los Angeles Fire Cmdr. Thomas E. McMaster.

“They should have had a smoke detector in that house,” McMaster said. “A $10 smoke detector would have saved three lives.”

He said damage to the house was estimated at $35,000.

Neighbors, meanwhile, complained that the Fire Department responded too slowly and said firefighters avoided using a hydrant located across the street from the Evans’ home, instead using one down the street at Menlo Avenue.

‘Could Have Saved Them’

“People’s lives were at stake,” said Eva Kennedy, a neighbor who lives across the street. “We want to know why they didn’t use the one near the house. They probably could have saved them.”

Another neighbor, Cora Patin, said the firefighters spent 15 minutes trying to cut away the home’s security door.

“They had this saw, and they were just pulling and pulling and it wouldn’t work,” she said.

But McMaster defended the firefighters, saying they used the hydrant near the corner of Menlo Avenue and 138th Street because it was the closest to the fire truck.

“For the firefighters to have used the other one would have meant making a U-turn,” McMaster said. “And making a U-turn in a fire engine is not as easy as it is in a car. The firefighters made the right, most logical choice.”

Denies Late Arrival

McMaster also denied that they were slow in arriving on the scene or getting inside the burning house.

He said the firefighters were returning from an accident scene on nearby Vermont Avenue when they noticed smoke coming from the back of the house.

“We discovered the fire--we were not notified,” McMaster said. “We just happened to be there. We cut the security door off in about a minute and were inside. You just can’t do any better than those firefighters did.”

‘We Tried Everything’

“This is a tragedy for that neighborhood,” he said, “so a lot of people may want to point fingers. But we tried everything we could.”

Neighbors and relatives said the children had come to live with Evans and his wife following the death of their mother, Evans’ niece.

They recalled the family as devout Christians.

“They were always into their Bibles,” said Telly Patin, who often played with the children. “They were always going to church, too. And they were fun.”

Timothy Evans, the elderly couple’s adult son, described his parents as “very loving people, good people.”