3 Fire Victims Remain in Critical Condition

Two brothers and the girlfriend of one of the boys, all badly burned in a New Year’s Eve house fire, remained in critical condition Friday, with the younger boy facing months in the hospital, a hospital spokesman said.

Patrick Crawford, 7, was listed in extremely critical condition with third-degree burns over 65% of his body after a fire swept through his Val Verde home in the Santa Clarita Valley on Thursday morning.

His half-brother, 17-year-old Sean Williams, remained in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns on 43% of his body.

“Both have life-threatening injuries, although Patrick’s are by far the more serious,” said Larry Weinberg, spokesman for the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital. The boys, who were both conscious, remained on ventilators Friday, nurse Barbara Rook said.

The brothers are scheduled to undergo surgery to remove dead tissue and cover burned areas with cadaver skin, a “biological dressing” to protect their bodies from infection until their tissue can support skin grafts, Weinberg said. Sean will go into surgery this morning, and Patrick will follow early next week.

Sean’s girlfriend, Patricia Lynn Martin, 20, was in critical condition Friday in the intensive care burn unit at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Adelaida De La Cerda. The young woman was suffering from smoke inhalation and second- and third-degree burns over 18% of her body, specifically her arms and back.

The boys’ aunt, Dawn Carter, 45, was also injured in the fire.

Carter, who was hurt jumping from a second-story window to escape the fire, was in fair condition with a fractured ankle at County/USC Medical Center, De La Cerda said.

Sheriff’s officials said Thursday that the 8:15 a.m. blaze was suspicious and “apparently not accidental.” Deputy Mark Bailey, a sheriff’s spokesman, said the investigation was continuing but he could not provide further details Friday.