By Mary Kozelka and Jessica Hopper
Rock Center
Madonna Badger, the Connecticut woman who lost her three daughters and parents in a fire on Christmas morning, remembers making the painful decision on whether to try to save her daughters or her parents.
“So I had to decide, ‘Do I go in and save them? Or do I go save my children?’ And so I ran the other way to save my children,” said Badger in an exclusive interview broadcast Thursday on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.
“So I scrambled up to the scaffolding to get to Grace’s window and I opened that window, and the smoke that hit me, it was just the blackest, like an ocean. There was twirling and there was the embers and all kinds of stuff in it. And I kept trying to hold my breath and put my head in and I did that, like, three or four times and I couldn’t get in. I couldn’t get in the window.”
Grace and her twin, Sarah, were 7. Badger also lost her 9-year-old daughter, Lily, and her parents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson.
The grief over her loss left Badger contemplating whether she wanted to continue living.
“Every day I have to wake up and I have to remember. So every day I have to go through that day. And then another day starts,” Badger said.
“I’m a raw nerve, basically. You know, obviously, after six months, you know, you hope to grow the slightest bit of skin over the nerve, you know?” she said. “I mean, getting well, I don’t know, that sounds insane. But, I don’t know. I think healing is the only word you can use.”
Badger still refers to her lost family members in the present tense. When asked by Lauer whether she does this automatically, she said it was a mixture of conscious and subconscious. “I feel them. They’re with me, you know? They’re not here physically. But I feel them, my children and my mom and dad.”
Badger and her boyfriend, Michael Borcina, were the only two people in the house to survive the blaze. An investigation by the Stamford fire marshal concluded the fire was most likely caused by fireplace ashes that had been discarded in a bag and left inside a “mud room” in the waterfront Victorian house.
“The fire appears to have been caused by hot fireplace ash and embers which had been discarded in this area,” said Stamford Fire Marshal Barry Callahan at a press conference two days after the fire.
Making a final determination on the cause of the fire, however, was made difficult when, less than 24 hours after the fire, the wrecked home was demolished by city workers.
Earlier this month, State Attorney David Cohen announced that there would be no criminal charges filed regarding the blaze and that there was no suspicion of foul play. The state attorney’s report said that the investigation into the fire had been hampered by the “actions of some City of Stamford officials.” According to the report, the demolition of the home occurred “before the State Fire Marshal’s Office or any other expert could make an independent examination and determination.”
Badger said that she questions whether the discarded fireplace remains truly started the blaze, telling Lauer that she remembers vividly when she watched Borcina test the heat of the ashes as he placed them into a bag after the family had started a fire on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
“The house was old,” she recalled, “and the fireplace is very shallow and so maybe, I don’t know, a foot, a foot and a half and so the wind blew ashes out onto the hearth and so we were cleaning up.
“Mike started cleaning up those ashes on the hearth, put them in a brown bag that was like a shopping bag, like a fancy, craft-paper bag. I can see all of it in my mind’s eye, you know? It wasn’t a big cleanup. It was just, get the stuff out of the front,” Badger said.
When asked to clarify whether it was ashes or embers being put in the bag, Badger said, “I saw them as ashes that were in the front of the fireplace. So you know, I can’t tell you exactly what was there, because I didn’t look that carefully, quite frankly, but I know that I watched him take them with his hand, the shovel and put them into the bag and then … I watched him put his hands in the bag” to make sure that nothing was on fire. The bag was then put on top of a plastic bin inside a room in the home that the family had designated as a mud room, she added.
Badger also claimed that, to the best of her knowledge, the fire and smoke alarms in the house were in working order, but that none of the detectors went off that night.
“It was silent. It was the scariest silence,” she said, recalling the moment she woke up choking and unable to breathe. She escaped the fire by climbing out of a front window in the home.
According to the state attorney’s report, investigators were unable to come to a “consensus as to how many smoke alarms were present, where they were located, whether they had been removed or whether they had been disabled.”
Badger argues that the swift demolition of the home did not allow a thorough investigation to be carried out.
“I think it’s a crime,” she told Lauer. “I don’t understand how it could have happened. I mean, within 24 hours, to tear down my house. No one can go in and investigate. No one can know what actually happened.”
Stamford officials told Rock Center that they could not address the specific questions raised by Badger, citing the possibility of future lawsuits. However, Stamford’s legal counsel told the program that the city’s “actions were consistent with its obligations to protect life and property.”
Badger has filed legal notice with the city that would allow her to sue if she decides to.
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Congratulations on displaying this woman's grief about the loss of her family in the fire. It was a disgusting example of pursuing entertainment at the cost of a woman in psychological pain. No matter the cause of the fire or the possible crime that may have occurred. You never give it a thought that this display is both disturbing and inappropriate. Why can't you ever present entertainment for the pure value of the joy it may provide your audience. All you care about is the shock value of your presentation.
You should be ashamed to present the pain and suffering of this woman that lost her entire family. You are more interested in shock value than real entertainment. You never miss an opportunity to portray distressing and disturbing material rather than any entertainment of real value. Don't you ever think about the impact your stories have on the public or the person that was devastated by the tragedy. It seems the more shocking and sad, the more chance you will telecast the story. Yes, there are unanswered questions but this did not have to be presented at the expense of public and the woman who lost her family.
It's a real tradegy and to bad her father wasn't down stairs with them, his wisdom would have known better, ashes in a bag left inside the house. It's to late to place blame, it doesn't solve anything. Children depend on their parents for wisdom and protection. What question is there to ask, it's quite clear what happened the ashes started the fire. Looks like counseling is needed to face the facts. Stories like this bring a host of emotions all at the same time. Such innocence gone at once. In every decision there is a consequence. So many times you wish you could turn back the hands of time.
It was a moving interview...but we did not learn about the male friend...Matt said they went to sleep...and she awakened...., but what happened to him?
Maybe I am missing something here but she agreed to do the interview.
The whole story is fishy!!
There was a whole missing piece of the story. Where was the BF during all this? It had been reported that he tried to lead the girls out, but they ran in the other direction. I understand it is difficult for the mother to recount the details of the tragedy, but there was another adult who survived and it was never explained how he managed to get out. I don't know what the point of suing the city is, at this point. The firefighters were traumatized that they could not save five people. The owner gave the most plausible explanation the night of the fire. The house was old and under construction and shouldn't even have been occupied at that stage. The BF did something very stupid, and Ms. Badger even admits as much. Yes, the house was demolished too quickly but the FD thought they had the cause, per the owner.
I commend her for coming forward in search of answers even though she's still reeling with grief. As a person who lost a mother in a house fire in CT, I know what the laws and procedures are after a house fire when life is lost. It doesn't seem to me that any of these were well executed in her case.
Who knocked down her house so quickly without telling her, and why? And why won't anyone tell her who ordered this destruction? Very suspect.
My other issue is with the lack of personal effects she received. A bag of stuffed animals? Are you kidding me? Soft goods are the first to be tossed. Well, I suppose if your going to get rid of evidence you should get rid of it all - just give her a smoky Elmo.
Madonna, I hope you find the truth - keep trying!
Please, I pray someone gives this info. to Madonna Badger. Please give her this link.
My son was in a fire in Boston two years ago. It was a smoldering fire and the smoke detectors didn't go off immediately because they were not the right kind of smoke detectors for that kind of a fire. People don't know this about smoke detectors. There should be laws and regulations made to change this. Ionisation smoke detectors are the cheapest smokes you can buy that's why everyone has them. They're cheap! Photo electric smokes are over $20 each. You need both to be safe. The dual smoke detectors are $30 and up. Some people like to live by the idea that one is better than none but what good is it if it's not going to alert you in time or if it's a smoldering fire and you need to have a photo electric detector to alert you in time. My son jumped 3 stories to escape a fire and lay in a hospital for 3 months and it took him one year to be able to be independent again. To think it could have been avoided if he had been awakened sooner. We knew nothing about this until our son was in a fire. The Boston fire department informed us of this issue which apparently for some reason is not accepted by all. I don't get it! If this could have saved this family from all this heartache then it would have been worth it! This family has a voice I don't please someone at NBC give her this information. Please.
OMG. If this is not a classic Forensic Files story. Too bad all the forensic was carted away! WHO authorized the demo of her home 2 days after the fire? That person and the demo crew should be arrested and brought to trial. What I do not understand is that she was seeing the remodel contractor, who put out the fireplace fire and put the ash into a PAPER BAG? Huh? WHAT, this is a man who did this stupid thing? Me's think that he did do that BUT there were "sparks" coming from the electrical area as Maddona Bager said in the same area as the ashes as she battled the smoke. I think the contractor/boy friend may have had negligence and ordered the demo to cover either the ashes or electrical haywire. There was no mention of this boy wonder in the TV story. He may have been married! Who authorized the demo? You just might find a demented killer! Check the city dump and get Forensic Files on the case!!
I agree with Jimboyc. Not one mention of the contractor boyfriend. He should be checked out. Was he doing the remodel? Who wired the home? Was he licensed? Too many questions left unanswered in this story!!!!!! The police should have had the scene protected. How does a house get demolished without these questions answered? Somebody help this poor woman get some closure.
Any way you look at it, it still all points back to the BF. He was the one doing the renovation, he was the one who stupidly put the embers in a paper bag in the house. Who installed the smoke detectors? It wasn't stated who installed them and when, whether they were tested, etc. I'm kind of assuming if he's the contractor, he's the one who installed them, if they were new. He doesn't sound like the brightest bulb on the block from what he did with the embers. He was with her at the funeral and I guess she's (unbelievably) still with him, but NBC just totally left that part out. He is such a critical piece of the puzzle....
As a career Fire Department Officer and most of all a Father of two young boys, I cant begin to imagine the great sense of loss that the Badgers must be feeling. The sense of loss of their children and parents on a night that is slated for celebration and anticipation of the holiday. In the same view I am reminded daily in my work of the fragility of life and the unexpectedness of life changing events that can effect us forever. We sense the pain in Madonna Badgers words, the loss, the anger, the tragedy of it all, but we must also see the strength she displays to us in her efforts to move forward in her own life, if not just one day or hour at a time. It is we who must learn from her loss and the devastating fire that she was faced with on Christmas Day. Through my 20 years in the fire service, I have been faced with situations that certainly changed the life of those directly effected, as well as the first responders called to mitigate the emergency at hand. Dramatic events such as the Christmas fire in Stamford, CT. are unimaginable in most peoples lives. We read about them, see them on the evening news, and hear about them from our neighbors, but never expect to be touched directly by this in our lives. The Fire Service for years has been tasked with rescue operations and fire suppression, and more recently, fire prevention and public education. The proactive stance of the Fire Service has resulted in a great reduction in loss of life and property conservation due to early notification and daily behavior modifications. The fragility of our daily lives, as exampled in the Badger tragedy, is a constant reminder that life is a celebration of events and meant to be explored, but in the unpredictable event such as a fire emergency we must be prepared. We must remind ourselves daily, not just at the time of given tragedies, that redundant smoke, fire and carbon monoxide detection systems must be in place in our homes and be operational at all times. Our daily behaviors and habits must be overshadowed by thoughts of safety and possible outcomes that may result by our actions. Our home appliances, electrical services, and heating equipment must be checked and maintained in order to reduce the likely hood of failure and possible fire. Life Safety must be in our thoughts all the time. We must be prepared with an at home escape plan if an emergency occurs while at home, during the day and at night. This must include working flashlights, discussion with children about escape routes and final meeting points outside the hazardous area, and safe and unsafe acts in their daily lives. Although this may seem like overkill to some, I assure you through my experience, it is not. Through the thousands of fire related calls I have responded to, it is those who are prepared that survive, and those who think of the outcomes of their actions that prevent greater loss to them self and others. In no way am I implying that the Badger tragedy would have or could have had a different outcome, had they held to this practice, but I do fall back on my own work experiences and see how life can be changed in the blink of an eye. Fire is an uncontrollable force that I have been faced with many times. The loss of life, and loss of property is permanent and taken without consideration to who the victims are. Fire is not always preventable, but many times can be reduced in intensity and loss with the aide of early detection, preparation, family discussion and a little prevention. So remember the children, the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Badger and the life of those first responders who were called to mitigate this tragic loss on Christmas Day 2011. They will be forever changed, in the blink of an eye, but we go forward and learn from it. Spread the word, prevent, prepare, and be ever vigilant in our daily lives to save ourselves in the event of a fire emergency.
A year ago January I watched my neighbors house go up in flames. Scary and horrific fortunately there was no loss of life. The house sat for 13 months before it was demolished. There were investigations, a foreclosure, banks, insurance companies and as hard as the neighbors tried to get it taken down for safety sake it was not removed until everyone involved in getting to the bottom of what happened was satisfied with their conclusions. Why did Matt not dig further into finding out WHO tore the Badger home down and WHO authorized it and WHO ultimately allowed it with out a complete and thorough investigation. Five people lost their lives and poor Madonna is left alone to find answers. Where are the hungry journalists willing to help get to the bottom of this senseless tragedy?? Come on NBC!!
This is the first sensible critique of this video. Yes, why didn't he explore the WHO behind this fire and demolition? Perhaps, this would have helped this grieving woman to find the answers to her questions...
There's a whole story in how and why the house was demolished so fast. Something seems very strange here and needs an explanation. The mother will never get piece of mind but she does deserve answers. I can't believe any insurance company moved this quickly nor can I believe that any city makes this quick a move to do anything for public safety short of a bomb scare. There are way too many questions without any answers.
This is a heart breaking story and I can't begin to understand that level of grief.
Heart wrenching story. I had been following it on radaronline.com. They had never mentioned the controversy over the demolition. How crazy that they would not have salvaged her belongings as in the photo there are parts of the home with only smoke and water damage!!Her comment that she had seen stories like hers and wondered how the parent "went on" struck me at the heart. She is living my worst fears. I pray for her sanity.
I fault Rock Center for not even attempting to answer some of the questions raised in the interview. All of NBC News couldn't find out who ordered the demolition of the home? And as has been raised by another commenter here, what about the boyfriend, who was involved (and may still be, that wasn't addressed either) in a personal relationship with Mrs. Badger? Who had a possible motive for scheduling a quick demolition? And on and on.
I understand that the segment was mostly about the interview and how this poor woman is dealing with this unspeakable tragedy, but several tidbits of information about possible wrongdoing were tossed out, and other than stating that the municipality could not comment due to pending litigation, there appears to have been absolutely no effort by the program to dig into the facts. This is not journalism. It makes the charges of sensationalism more justified than they otherwise would be.
I was sad in watching Ms.Badger share her grief with Matt Lauer who did his usual feel the victim's pain routine.Matt Lauer now earns over $20 million per year at Today and with the Ann Curry co-anchor exit negotiations ongoing,one might think he would want to show he is a stronger interviewer but this is not what he did. He asked few questions about the Fire Dept. decision to haul away the home contents after immediate demolition citing the legal suit probability. Very weak. If NBC News wants to improve its image and ratings,Matt Lauer or Ryan Seacrest should have minimal influence or primetime appearances. This was as sad and tragic a story as one could imagine and Mr.Lauer blew it other than to show respect for the grieving mother.
Mark1209, it was embarrassing to watch Matt Lauer's response as Ms. Badger was describing the house and talking about the three bedrooms on the third floor. He smiles and says, "Perfect little girls' rooms...?, which only makes her cry, because of course the fire raced up to the third floor. I was surprised he didn't think that one through.
What happened to the boyfriend? "They went to sleep." She mentioned him in the ER, but never again. Why didn't Matt ask about him? He was the contractor working on the house, has he been questioned? Did he order the house torn down? Did he have something to hide? This interview should not be over. Matt could have done a better job at this news reporting. The way I see it he just wanted to present the emotional side of this woman, which was very painful to watch. This was not investigative journalism. Very disappointed with NBC, Brian Williams and most of all Matt Lauer (a former reporter from RI). My deepest condolences for Madonna.
The next time I feel sorry for myself, I'm going to read this story.
This woman is complete denial about the fire - the dumbass boyfriend put out the ashes in a bag that caught fire. Any moron knows if you put out ashes, you put them in a metal can deemed for such. If she needs to point to some vast conspiracy...that is her right.
To blame the Stamford Fire Dept is completely insane.
Just saw this story...taking a moment to urge Madonna to keep searching and investigating to get answers. There are just TOO MANY QUESTIONS not answered. To demolish her home is highly suspect and potentially criminal...who does that and why and never asking her for input. It is OUTRAGEOUS!! And for those who say she should not be interviewed at this time...having gone thru a shock similar, when there is investigating to be done you have to hop onto things right away, and hopefully this story will help her keep going and she will deal with her grief as time moves forward and I agree, Matt didn't follow up on things she said...aggravating. The boyfriend??? Where is he in these interviews....it does look like she will be solo on fighting this. ONWARD and FORWARD, MADONNA! Best Luck to you. Thank you to those explaining the diff between smoke detectors...I didn't know, now I do.