A smoke detector jolted Paulette Thomas into saving her grandchildren Wednesdaynight from a blaze started by a child playing with a lighter.
Mrs. Thomas sat in the soot-smeared living room of her Over-the-Rhine row house Thursday and wondered whether the children would recover from their burns.
Four-year-old Jomaco Thomas was in critical condition Thursday at Shriners Burns Institute with burns covering 90 percent of his body. His sister, Mykya Thomas, 8, was in serious condition with burns to her shoulders, face and arms. Shalinda Thomas, 6, was released from Children's Hospital after being treated for smoke inhalation. "The 6-year-old said she was playing with a lighter under the bed her brother was in," Mrs. Thomas said.
Mrs. Thomas, 46, had checked on the children several times and said she had no idea Shalinda had the lighter. Mrs. Thomas had spent the evening watching the Chicago Bulls game. The children were in their attic bedroom watching cartoons.
As the clock ticked closer to 11 p.m., two of the children were asleep, but Shalinda was restless. Mrs. Thomas told her granddaughter to climb into bed with her.
Before they could drift off to sleep, the smoke alarm sounded. Mrs. Thomas heard glass crashing and Mykya screaming for her.
"I got to the top of the steps, and there was smoke everywhere," Mrs. Thomas said. "My grandson, I couldn't see him. I kept hollering. I couldn't see nothing, and I heard him crying. Finally, I seen his legs under the black smoke, and I grabbed his legs and carried him down."
Firefighters arrived as she brought the children outside. Cincinnati Fire Capt. Dan Rottmueller listed the lighter as the cause of the fire and the damage at $40,000.
"This tragedy is the result of yet another child playing with a butane lighter," District Chief Mike Kroeger said. "A working smoke detector in the house clearly allowed Mrs. Thomas to save two young children's lives."
The children's mother, Vicky Thomas, 24, was working at her assembly-line job when the fire started.
Paulette Thomas said they would be relocating with help from the American Red Cross. There is no insurance to cover the loss of most of the family's clothes and the children's toys.
They were told that Jomaco could be at Shriners for six months. The principal at the girls' Over-the-Rhine school has offered to store donations there. Items can be sent in care of Rothenberg School, 241 E. Clifton Ave., Cincinnati 45210.
