New Year Mourning

VAL VERDE —  Resting amid the ashes in front of the home gutted on New Year’s Eve by fire was a makeshift bouquet of flowers, a small but powerful reminder of the tragedy that had occurred there days before.

There were no other visible signs of grief Monday in Val Verde, a quiet, dusty town of 2,000 northwest of Magic Mountain.

But residents left no doubt, as sheriff’s detectives resumed their investigation and as funeral arrangements were set for the two victims, that theirs is a community in mourning. The fire, residents say, is the biggest tragedy to afflict their close-knit community in recent memory.

Half-brothers Patrick Crawford, 7, and Sean Williams, 17, both died over the weekend, succumbing to severe burns suffered during the blaze.

“Nobody wants to see a kid dying,” said Monowar Zahrad, owner of a convenience store just down the road from where the fire took place.

Zahrad’s nondescript store, stocked with everything from Lotto tickets to doughnuts to videos, is the closest thing folks have to a town center.

Conversation among store customers has centered on one thing since New Year’s, said Zahrad: “People feel really bad about the whole thing.”

“People are in shock,” said Debbie Hoover, 35, who baby-sits for a family a few doors down from the burned-out house. “It’s hard for everyone to sleep.”

Hoover was among the residents who called 911 the morning of the fire and watched helplessly as those inside tried to escape. The fire broke out about 8:15 on the ground floor of the two-story, four-bedroom home.

Meanwhile, at Live Oak Elementary in neighboring Castaic, where Patrick attended school, the flag flew at half-staff and students observed a moment of silence in remembrance of their classmate.

“It wasn’t really silent in my room,” said Kerie Stein, Patrick’s second-grade teacher. “There was a lot of crying.” She, too, fought back tears as she spoke.

Patrick’s classmates will present a box of condolence cards to Linda Reese, Patrick’s mother, who was at work when the fire erupted.

“Dear Mrs. Reese, I am going to miss Pat a lot. He’s still my friend, even though he’s now in heaven,” wrote one.

Another student addressed Patrick posthumously in a journal students were asked to write, sharing their feelings. The spelling and grammar were the stuff of second-graders, but the feelings were unmistakable:

“I really miss you. I wish you were here rite now. I can’t believe you dead.”

Fire officials who first arrived on the scene initially ruled the blaze accidental and stemming from the Christmas tree. But Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arson investigators later deemed the blaze suspicious.

The probe continues, but investigators have now ruled out any electrical problem as the cause, said Det. Ed Nordskog. A specially trained dog brought to the scene indicated the presence of “fire accelerants,” he said.

Investigators are trying to understand why the blaze spread so quickly from the living room.

Patricia Lynn Martin, 20, who lived at the home, was in serious but stable condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center on Monday.

Dawn Carter, 45, the victims’ aunt, who fractured her ankle jumping from a second-story window, was being treated at Veterans Administration Hospital in Westwood. She transferred there from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

At Live Oak Elementary, some students decorated their condolence cards or journals with drawings. They drew the burning house, Patrick with his mother, and angels.

Wrote one student of the two brothers: “I hope they have a good time in heaven.”