Jan 7, 2009 6:33 pm US/Mountain
Roxborough Fire Survivor Helps To Provide Closure
Written by Paul Day
Reporting
Paul Day
ROXBOROUGH VILLAGE, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Chilling new details were released Wednesday about the badly burned lone survivor of a fatal house fire in the Roxborough Village community of Douglas County last August.
Young people had gathered in the home the night of Aug. 3 to pay their respects to Joey Shedron, who had just lost his mother to brain cancer.
Frantic 911 calls from neighbors began pouring in after 3 a.m.
"There's a house on across the street, its burning!" said one caller.
When the first firefighters arrived, the home at 9877 Fairwood Street was fully engulfed in flames.
"There are people inside the home," screamed another 911 caller.
Five people were in the burning house. Two got out safely, including Devin Barnhart.
Barnhart and a friend, Jeremy McCarroll, realized friends were still trapped inside, they re-entered the burning house. Barnhart went downstairs and found nobody. He looked up the stairs, saw fire and knew the only way out was to run through flames.
"When he got to the top of the stairs he tripped on the step and it probably saved his life," says Cindy Matthews, the Public Information Officer for West Metro Fire.
Close to the ground where there was less heat and smoke, Barnhart was badly burned as he scrambled out of the burning home.
McCarroll had gone upstairs, where his body was later found along with the bodies of Shedron and his girlfriend Amber Jeffers.
Barnhart suffered burns over 70 percent of his body.
After spending more than 4 months at University Hospital Burn Center he was able to come home.
Devin met recently with firefighters and provided the only firsthand account of the fire.
West Metro says their investigation of the blaze eventually ruled out arson, any natural gas explosion or electrical problem. They suspect the fire most likely was started by a carelessly discarded, lit cigarette at the back of the house. They will never be able to prove that, though, so officially the cause is undetermined.
"This is going to be undetermined forever," says West Metro Investigator Tony Satriano.
"Since Devin survived," he adds, "We have a lot of good information and we can get some closure going."
The home was owned by Shedron's father. It had smoke detectors but nobody heard them go off.
Investigators concluded the devices failed to work properly.
At a news conference Wednesday, West Metro stressed that working smoke detectors can save lives.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
316,000 Bongs Disguised As Ornaments
Obama Sculpture Does A Cool Trick
Slideshow: Colorado's Weirdest House
Stumble It!
Comments