March 28--An apartment fire early Thursday morning that left two children dead began in the bedroom where they were sleeping, Decatur Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief and Fire Marshal Jason Jones said.
"We have no reason to believe there was anything suspicious," he said.
The fire at the West Ridge Apartments Building A on Fifth Avenue Southwest was reported to emergency responders at 7:36 a.m. The first fire department responders arrived three minutes later but were unable to rescue Marlena Miland, 4, and Dexter Miland Jr., 2.
A Decatur police spokesman said 8-year-old Paris Donaldson Jr. woke his mother, Tanetha Miland, and her husband, Dexter, saying there was smoke in the apartment. The parents tried to reach the children, who were in a bed in the rear of the building, "but the flames were too great," Lt. John Crouch said. "They went outside, and the father then tried to get to them through a window, but he couldn't."
The parents and Donaldson were not injured.
Jones said fire department personnel would work through the weekend until they resolve the case.
Tanetha Miland said she had "no idea" what could have started the fire. She said the only electronics left on in the apartment were a television, fan and phone, which she said are always on.
The apartments, built with a wood frame and brick facade, were equipped with smoke alarms but not sprinklers, officials said. Building A had no code violations in city records.
Tanetha Miland said the smoke alarm never sounded in their unit. Jones said he could not comment as to the building's structural integrity or whether the smoke alarms were functional.
Next-door neighbor Darnee Clinton said his apartment's smoke alarms always have worked and would go off even if he smoked a cigarette in the room. Clinton said he left for work a little before 7:20 a.m. and didn't notice anything.
"People say God works in mysterious ways and things," he said. "But I just don't see something like this being fair. A 2-year-old and a 4-year-old dying tragically, and they haven't even had the chance to live their lives yet."
Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn said autopsies were being performed but that both children died from smoke inhalation. He pronounced the children dead outside the apartment.
Reynolds Funeral Home will handle arrangements.
Crouch said the two-story apartment building was a fourplex. The other residents of Building A escaped harm.
Property owner Patrick Crow, of Decatur, could not be reached by phone at his home or office. His attorney, Barney Lovelace, said Crow would not comment while the investigation was ongoing.
A statement from apartment manager Colleen Schrimsher said the company extends its "deepest sympathy to the Miland family in the loss of their two children," and will "focus on assisting the Miland family and the other families displaced by the fire."
Tanetha Miland said the family lost all its belongings in the fire.
Cody Muzio can be reached at 256-340-2443 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @DD_CodyMuzio.
How to help
The survivors of Thursday morning's fire need clothing, shoes and household goods. Those items can be donated to the Committee on Church Cooperation (256-355-8893) or Neighborhood Christian Center (256-351-7633).
The Morgan-Lawrence Chapter of the American Red Cross offered displaced victims time in a hotel and some clothing, and referred them to Hospice Bereavement Center for grief counseling.
Copyright 2014 - The Decatur Daily, Ala.
