The city had planned to haul property owner Jean S. Mui of Newton Highlands into housing court Monday, officials said yesterday at a press conference to disclose details of the tragic inferno that killed 43-year-old Jon Davies, a 17-year veteran and father of three -- including a son serving in Afghanistan -- and hospitalized fellow firefighter Brian Carroll, 40.
"We have not made contact," a seemingly frustrated City Manager Michael V. O'Brien said of the property owner and manager as he read Mui's hometown out loud for all to hear at the press conference.
Mui said "no comment" repeatedly when reached by the Herald outside her home last night.
Davies and Carroll went back into the blazing triple-decker on 49 Arlington St. when fire officials were told one of a dozen tenants inside did not make it out.
Minutes later, the back of the building gave way trapping Carroll in the cellar and Davies on the first floor, Worcester Fire Chief Gerard A. Dio said.
The missing tenant lived in the back of the building and was still unaccounted for late last night as investigators picked through the rubble.
Yesterday's tragedy came almost 12 years to the day six firefighters perished in the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse blaze.
Meanwhile, a resident of the gutted building told the Herald she could be the one the hero jakes were sent inside to save during yesterday's 4:18 a.m. blaze.
"They thought it was me, probably," said Diana Felix. "It's a tragedy. My heart goes out to his family."
Felix, who says she has roomed in a three-bedroom apartment on the second floor for two months, lives there with her triplets, age 15, and a friend. She and her daughters stayed at her mother's home last night.
Neighbor Stephanie Laythe, 18, said the three-alarm fire lit up the sky: "It was blazing and the wind was pushing the fire. ... You could see the building tilting and everything just fell."
Davies' fiancee, Jessica Dumas, told the Herald her husband-to-be was "the best man I have ever known."
She spoke as she loaded memorabilia into her car at his house, including a firefighter's dress uniform, an American flag and what looked to be a bronze plaque.
She didn't want to say anything more because his sons are not back from military service yet. She had planned a romantic New Year's Eve wedding.
Carroll, a 14-year veteran, was trapped for nearly an hour and remains in stable condition at UMass Memorial Medical Center, Gardell said.
"Both of these men are brave, selfless individuals," O'Brien said.
O'Ryan Johnson and Renee Nadeau Algarin contributed to this report.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
