By JON BAKER

LINCOLN — The early-morning Sunday blaze at 3 Earl St., one that claimed the life of a seven-year-old boy, has not been deemed suspicious, but police and fire officials continue to investigate the cause of the conflagration.

The names and ages of those inside the Cape Cod-style home at the time — including four adults and five children — still haven’t been released, as those with the State Fire Marshal’s Office continue to attempt to contact next of kin, and further study the case.
“That was probably the worst fire I’ve seen in my career, in terms of such a tragedy,” said Saylesville Fire District Chief Dave Almond on Monday evening. “I’ve been chief here for 20 years, and a firefighter here or in Lonsdale for 15 more. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Police Chief Brian Sullivan said that he and his detective unit — along with those from the State Fire Marshal’s Office — spent several hours Monday at that Fairlawn location (near the intersections of Williams, Smith and Earl streets) to search out new evidence.
“The cause is the key element, and we don’t know that yet,” Sullivan said.
“We want to make sure we look at all possibilities before we issue something official … It’s a tragedy anytime something like this happens, a house catching fire, but when you lose a loved one, especially this time of year and the fact it’s a small boy, it makes it all the more sad and disheartening.”
Sullivan said that the 7-year-old, believed to be a visitor at the home, had been at a second-floor window with other people inside when firefighters arrived. Apparently, a woman and a teen-age girl jumped from that window, with the elder suffering from a broken arm and leg, and she was taken to a local hospital by Lincoln Rescue.
The younger, later found at a home on Hope Street, also was moved with unknown injuries.
All others, police say, escaped the blaze unharmed. Following numerous “911” calls, firefighters with trucks and equipment from Saylesville, Lime Rock, Albion and Lonsdale fire districts sped to the site, as well as Lincoln Rescue units and Red Cross officials.
“We suspect (the boy) panicked, and ran back toward the smoke and fire, according to what witnesses told us,” Sullivan noted. “This was prior to emergency personnel arriving on scene. When such officials got there, the fire was so intense, they couldn’t get close to where the boy was suspected of being.”
According to Lime Rock Fire District Chief Frank Sylvester, he arrived on site at about 6:40 a.m. — after learning his own Capt. Russell Thibeault had been injured inside the abode.
“I had heard he suffered from a dislocated right shoulder after picking up a mattress on the second floor,” Sylvester said. He added that he had been told a family owns the house, but had rented it, and that a grandmother allegedly was conducting a pre-holiday party with grandchildren and other family members and friends.
“There was a man in the basement asleep at the time, from what I’ve been told, and he couldn’t gain access outside, but he was pulled from a (basement) window,” he said. “He believes it could’ve been an electrical thing.”
When contacted at home after his release from the hospital, Thibeault stated he found the boy “with the upper half of his torso outside the mattress and the lower half still underneath. It looked like smoke inhalation (claimed his life).”
Almond stated Thibeault was the only firefighter injured.
Once the firefighters brought the mammoth fire under control, firefighters went inside and removed the victim from a second-story bedroom. The body then was brought to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, police said Sunday.
“Actually, there were only two people from the home outside on the street when I got there, four or five minutes after the first call,” Almond said.
“They told me there was a young boy still on the second floor. We tried to go up the stairway, and firefighters had to be pulled out because of the heat and smoke. Then a second wave (of firefighters) went in and noticed the stairway was spongey, so we decided to attack it from the outside.
“How it got that involved so fast, I don’t know,” he continued. “We’re looking into whether smoke detectors were working and whether they were in place. The question is: How did the fire get that advanced before it was detected by people in the house?
“We’re not releasing any names, not as of this morning, and that’s because the State Fire Marshal’s Office hasn’t. This is a horrific fire. With it being Christmastime, especially with a child involved, it definitely makes you reflect. It’s very numbing.”