House Fire Kills 4; Girl, 13, Saves 3 Sisters : Tragedy: Heroine’s mother, two brothers and a sister die in the blaze. Mix-up that sent firefighters to wrong address prompts inquiry.

As firefighters sped to the wrong address, three toddlers and their mother were killed early Monday when flames raced through their small stucco house in Southwest Los Angeles.

Four of the family’s other children survived the 2 a.m. blaze because of the quick thinking of 13-year-old Syreeta Middleton, who managed to release the stubborn security bars from a bedroom window and pull three of her younger sisters to safety.

Firefighters said they found the bodies of Beverly Middleton, 36; her son, Donovan, 2, and daughter Patricia Marlene, 3, lying together in the central hallway of their 1,000-square-foot house in the 3100 block of South 9th Avenue. The tiny body of Middleton’s youngest child, William, 11 months, was found on a bed, authorities said.

Firefighters did not arrive on the scene until 14 minutes after the first frantic call came into the city’s 911 emergency line because a fire company instead was dispatched to the 3100 block of 9th Street, in Koreatown, Deputy Fire Chief Don Anthony acknowledged at an afternoon news conference.

In 1994, the city’s average response time to fire emergencies was six minutes.

Anthony said emergency callers’ addresses normally flash on a screen in the central 911 dispatch headquarters and subsequently in the city fire dispatcher’s office. But the address disappears as soon as the caller hangs up, which happened quickly in this case, he said.

Anthony, assigned to conduct a full-scale investigation of the communications mishap that ensued, told reporters that it was unclear whether any lives would have been saved if firefighters had gone directly to the burning house.

“It’s very difficult for me to second-guess whether we could (have rescued the victims) or not,” he said.

“Can you do good” by responding “as early as possible” to a fire? Anthony asked rhetorically. “Can you save lives? As a professional firefighter, the answer is yes.”

Firefighters credited Syreeta, a seventh-grader, with saving the lives of her sisters LaToya, 11, Melissa, 8, and Marcella, 6, by forcing open an emergency foot lever that released the security bars on a back bedroom window.

“She was heads-up enough to activate the panic hardware,” said Fire Department spokesman Jim Featherstone. “When it didn’t open at first, she stomped on it and got it open.”

Fire deaths caused by old or malfunctioning security bars have long been a problem in Los Angeles, particularly in urban neighborhoods where high crime rates lead most residents to install bars on their doors and windows.

Syreeta and LaToya ran across the street to tell a neighbor to call the Fire Department and then climbed back into the house in a futile attempt to rescue the others. They were treated for smoke inhalation at Brotman Medical Center and released.

The girls’ grandmother, Shirley Boucher, who lives 14 blocks away--twice as far as the nearest fire station--said she arrived at the scene of the fire long before the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“I don’t understand why it takes them so long to get here,” said Boucher, who added that she was phoned by the girls’ neighbor just before or after the initial 911 call.

Firefighters gave no immediate cause for the blaze but said it was probably accidental. Syreeta and her grandmother said they thought it was caused by an electrical short.

Six hours after the fire, a stunned but composed Syreeta said she had been dozing off on a living room couch when she smelled smoke coming from a nearby chair. She and her mother fought to beat back the flames with a fire extinguisher.

“My mom was panicking,” Syreeta recalled in a soft but firm voice as she stood across from the gutted house where firefighters were still sifting through the rubble. “She was worried about getting the other kids out.”

Syreeta said she ran into the back bedroom where Melissa and Marcella were asleep on a bunk bed and struggled to open the window’s security bars.

“My uncle had told me, ‘Use this (the emergency lever) if there’s ever a fire,’ said the short, slim girl, who wore a long pink coat over her smoke-stained pajamas. “I stepped on it again and the bars swung open.”

Firefighters said the barred windows in Beverly Middleton’s bedroom could not be similarly opened.

After arriving at the scene, Boucher said Syreeta told her that the last words she heard her mother utter as she stood in the hallway were, “Mom (the grandmother) will take care of you guys.”

Having lost her job as a cardiologist technician at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica as a result of last year’s earthquake, Boucher said that will be no easy task. “But I can’t give up on them now,” she said, her eyes moist with tears. “I’m their only backbone.”

Boucher said the living room chair was next to a night light, which could have had a short-circuit.

In explaining why she thought the fire resulted from an electrical malfunction, Syreeta said she frequently saw sparks jump from outlets and occasionally suffered shocks if she touched the refrigerator and kitchen counter at the same time.

According to Anthony’s account, the first 911 call came into the Los Angeles police dispatcher’s office at 1:54 a.m. The call was routed to a nearby fire dispatcher’s office, but the caller hung up quickly and her address disappeared from emergency screens, Anthony said.

In the initial confusion, the chief said, dispatchers thought that the caller, whose identity was not disclosed, had said the fire was on Vine Street. But when asked for further clarification, the caller replied, “No, 9, like the number.”

Anthony said his investigation will use computer printouts and tape recordings to determine exactly how the ensuing communication mistake occurred.

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Moreover, he said, a Los Angeles Police Department squad car happened on the scene independently at 1:57 a.m. The officers sent out a radio message about the blaze, but fire dispatchers either were not aware of it or did not respond.

Four minutes later, the fire company dispatched to the wrong address arrived at 9th Street and, finding no blaze, messaged dispatchers for further information. Dispatchers, who were able to retrieve the phone number from the original 911 call, telephoned for details but got a tape-recorded message.

In the next four minutes, two more 911 calls came in and at 2:05 a.m., fire dispatchers finally sent units to the correct address. They arrived three minutes later and extinguished the blaze at 2:22 a.m.

Neighbors, some of whom were weeping, described the surviving youngsters as happy, polite and well-disciplined. “They used to help my elderly aunt with the little things,” said Evelyn Brown, 68. “They put up the Christmas decorations, they spread the grass seed on the ground.”

Mrs. Middleton’s oldest child, Lawrence, 14, and her brother Michael, who owned the house, were visiting friends for the night when the blaze broke out. The mother of eight had recently separated from her husband, Lawrence.

Neighbors, including block captain Angela Smith, said the Middleton house had been the site of noise complaints and other problems until Lawrence Middleton, who they said was jobless and often disruptive, had been asked to leave.

Boucher said her daughter, who was born in Jamaica, grew up in Los Angeles from the age of 9 and was a graduate of Los Angeles High School. She and her children had lived in the 9th Avenue house since it was purchased by her brother in 1991.

Family members Monday afternoon opened a Middleton Memorial Fund for the surviving children and for burial expenses. The fund is at Family Savings Bank, 3683 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles 90016.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Chronology The following is a minute-by-minute account from Deputy Fire Chief Don Anthony and other fire authorities of the communications mishap in responding to Monday morning’s fatal fire in Southwest Los Angeles. The fire took the lives of three toddlers and their mother. 1:54 a.m.: First 911 call comes into Los Angeles police dispatcher and caller’s address and phone number appear on emergency room screen. Call is routed to fire dispatcher, but information disappears from screen when caller hangs up quickly. Fire companies are sent to the 3100 block of 9th Street, in Koreatown, rather than the 3100 block of 9th Avenue, in Southwest, Los Angeles. 1:57 a.m.: An LAPD squad car, which has arrived independently at the scene, sends a radio message that presumably gives the correct address, but fire dispatchers are either unaware or do not respond. 2:01 a.m.: Firefighters arrive at 9th Street address, and finding no fire, message fire dispatcher. 2:01 a.m.: Fire dispatchers call number of initial 911 caller for further details but hear only a taped message. 2:01 a.m. to 2:05 a.m.: Two more 911 calls come in about the 9th Avenue fire. 2:05 a.m.: Fire dispatcher sends units to correct address. 2:08 a.m. First fire companies arrive. 2:22 a.m. The fire is extinguished.