Fire caused by candle claims Cape teen

SMOKE DETECTORS WITHOUT BATTERIES

By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian

A young woman died early Thursday trying to escape a blaze ignited by a candle left burning in her home, Cape Girardeau firefighters said.

Amanda Robinson, 17, was overwhelmed by heat and smoke in her attic apartment at 513 Washington St., said city fire marshal Mike Morgan.

No batteries were in two smoke alarms in the apartment, he said.

Robinson lived in the house converted into apartments. Another apartment was on the first floor, and a third was in the basement.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 4 a.m. after the fire had already burned through to the first floor, where Carl Hazel was sleeping.

Hazel was in bed when his dog, Gunther, jumped on him.

"He was pulling off the covers and barking," Hazel said.

When he woke up, Hazel saw that the ceiling in the bedroom was smoldering and cinders were dropping. In the living room, a 5-foot diameter hole had burned through.

"I grabbed the dog, grabbed the phone and ran outside to call 911," he said.

By that time, it was too late for Robinson, who tried to break out a window leading onto the porch roof, Morgan said. The lower half of the window was blocked by an air conditioner, the top half was double-paned.

Robinson was able to break the first layer of glass, but then she was overcome by smoke, Morgan said. When firefighters found her body on the floor by the window, her hands and arms were badly cut.

David Lloyd, who lives in the basement apartment, was up late watching a movie. About 3 a.m., he noticed water dripping from his ceiling. He put a pot underneath, thinking he'd call the landlord in the morning.

Firefighters said the dripping water was probably caused by melted solder attachments on the copper pipes in Robinson's apartment.

Lloyd never met Robinson, who rented her apartment in March. Her other neighbor, Hazel, described her as friendly and "a typical 17-year-old."

'No answer'

In Oran, Mo., Robinson's father, Jimmy Robinson, heard on television there had been an early morning fire on his daughter's street.

"I tried to call her, but there was no answer," Jimmy Robinson said. Firefighters said her telephone melted on the nightstand.

When a priest and a police officer knocked on his door shortly after, Jimmy Robinson said he knew the news was bad.

"She was finally getting to the point where things were going her way," he said.

Three months away from her 18th birthday, Amanda Robinson was independent and grown up, yet innocent, her father said.

She was trying to break into the nursing profession as an aide, he said, because she liked to care for people and had a personality suited for it.

"I know everybody says this about their kid, but you really couldn't find a nicer person," he said.

Her co-workers at Blimpie's Subs and Salads on Broadway described her as a "lovely, lively girl."

Carpet caught fire

According to fire investigators, the candle that started the fire was sitting in a clear, glass dish on one of the stereo speakers, Morgan said.

Firefighters found an identical dish on the second speaker.

At some point during the night, the candle fell off the speaker. The carpet caught fire and spread to the bathroom door and doorjamb.

Investigators believe it was the heat that finally roused Robinson, and by then she was trapped.

If the smoke detectors had batteries, she would have had a chance, Morgan said.

One smoke detector was above the bedroom door, the other was in the kitchen. Investigators suspect the batteries were removed because the alarms were pesky in the apartment with a low ceiling. Smoke from burning food on the stove or steam from the shower could have set them off, making them seem like a nuisance.

"That's the worst part," Cape Girardeau fire chief Mike Lackman said. "She died an absolutely horrible death for no reason."

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160