Christmas Fire Kills Five in Connecticut

Five people were killed this morning in Stanford, Connecticut, when a predawn fire destroyed a Victorian house owned by ad-executive Madonna Badger.

The NY Times reports that Badger and a family friend were able to escape the fire. Badger’s three children, Lily, 9, and Grace and Sarah, 7-year-old twins, were killed in the fire, as well as her parents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson, who were celebrating their 49th anniversary today.

Mayor Michael Pavia called the fire one of the greatest Christmas tragedies in the history of the city. Pavia said:

“It is a terrible, terrible day for the city of Stamford. There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford.”

A family member, who wished not to be named, said that Lomer Johnson perished the night after he played Santa for his three granddaughters. The relative said that Mr. Lomer stopped shaving the day after he retired to achieve an authentic Santa beard.

The family member said:

“That’s all he ever wanted to be. He stopped shaving the day he retired.”

Timothy Conroy, the deputy fire chief, told the NY Times that the house was undergoing renovations but that he didn’t believe the construction caused the fire. Conroy said:

“It did not appear that the renovations were part of the cause; they might have been part of the spread. We have not had a loss of life like this since back in the ’80s, where there was also the loss of five people. I can’t remember anything like this.”