D.C. Boy, 11, Succumbs To Injuries From Fire

Northeast House Blaze Death Toll Rises to 6

An 11-year-old boy died yesterday from burns and injuries suffered in a house fire on New Year's Day in Northeast Washington, bringing to six the number killed in the blaze.

Oscar Wilson III, the youngest son of Oscar and Michelle Smith Wilson, died about 1:30 p.m. at Children's National Medical Center. Meanwhile, authorities sought to pinpoint the source of the fire that ripped through the two-story frame home, with electrical problems the most likely cause.

Oscar was one of three children who died, along with his 10-year-old cousin, Joseph Wilson, and Kaniya Gant, 4. Kaniya's parents, Keith Nelson, 23, and Tawana Gant, 22, friends of the Wilsons who were staying in the home, also died. The sixth victim was Michelle Wilson's father, Charles Smith, 72, who also resided in the home in the 1000 block of Jackson Street NE.

Diane Smith, Michelle's mother, said about 30 family members and three ministers from the families' churches gathered in young Oscar's room at the hospital yesterday as the family removed him from life support. From the start, the family had been told that Oscar had little chance of survival.

Smith said Oscar's parents held his hands as he slipped away. "It was the worst thing I ever had to go through," Smith said. "To sit up there and watch him go. It's something I would never want to do again."

At the time of the fire, nine family members and friends were in the house after celebrating New Year's Eve with karaoke and other activities, the relatives said. In addition to the six who died, Oscar and Michelle Wilson were in the home, as was a 15-year-old boy who was treated at a hospital and released. Fire officials had said Thursday that Michelle Wilson was not home at the time, but the family said they were mistaken.

Fire officials said yesterday that the blaze was accidental and that an initial investigation revealed that it began with electrical failure in wiring in the space between the basement ceiling and the first floor of the three-bedroom, bungalow-style house. Flames spread rapidly through the ceiling, up the walls and to the roof. The fire was reported about 7 a.m.

Fire department spokesman Alan Etter said authorities removed the house's circuit-breaker box, some wiring and other items for analysis by experts, including electrical engineers, who will seek to determine the exact cause of the fire. The inquiry could take weeks, he said.

Because survivors were devastated by grief and faced with making funeral arrangements, Etter said, authorities probably will not interview them for a few more days. As a result, Etter said, he was not certain who was where in the house when the fire started or whether smoke alarms functioned properly.

Etter said investigators found two smoke alarms in the rubble: one in the basement and one on the first floor. If there was an alarm on the second floor, he said, it has not been found.

The basement alarm was wired into the house's electrical system and did not have a battery backup, Etter said. He said it is possible that the fire in the electrical system knocked out the house's power before producing enough smoke to activate the basement alarm. The battery-operated alarm on the first floor was in working order, he said.

Family members spent yesterday making initial plans for funeral services. Several met with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and D.C. Council members, including Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5). Tawana Gant, who had worked in Thomas's office since summer, was the daughter of one of Oscar Wilson's close friends, and Wilson allowed her to live in the basement with her daughter. Gant worked with Thomas on his Ward 5 Business Council and helped organize his office's recent toy drive, Thomas said.

The Wilsons had worked closely with council members after their daughter, Taleshia Ford, 17, was killed Jan. 20, 2007, by a stray bullet at a Northwest Washington go-go club near the busy U Street corridor. Their efforts helped lead to a citywide policy mandating extra security at nightclubs that serve alcohol but also cater to teenagers. The city named the policy in honor of Taleshia.

The latest tragedy has led to many offers of help. Thomas's office established the Tawana Gant and Extended Family Fund. Contributions may be sent to his office, c/o the Ward 5 Business Council, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Room 107, Washington, D.C. 20004, officials said. A second fund was set up, called the Wilson-Nelson-Smith-Gant Fire Relief Fund, c/o Diane Smith, P.O. Box 29145, Washington, D.C. 20017.

At the fire-charred home yesterday, cleaning crews began removing soot-covered items from the residence and placing them on the sidewalk for disposal. Inside the house, James Barnes, 38, foreman of the crew removing the debris, walked from one gutted room to the next, all of them empty except for small piles of mostly unrecognizable, fire-blackened belongings.

Barnes walked upstairs and pointed to charred bunk beds in a rear room, to a stack of old comic books seared by flames in a hall closet, to a jumble of clothes that survived the fire in an aluminum locker in the front bedroom.

"Mainly, it's the pictures that get to you," Barnes said. "Photo albums. The wallets you find. You see pictures of the family members, the people who actually lived here. It kind of hits you, you know?

"You see toys, plenty of toys," he said. "But it's mainly the photos. All the memories."