BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sylvia Barkley angonizes over the death of her 11-year-old son, James. .
(Michael E. Keating photo)
| ZOOM |
|
Escape through the front door was easy.
But when the smoke alarm sounded Sunday morning, the people gathered for breakfast at Sylvia Barkley's Avondale home weren't thinking about escape; they headed toward the third floor.
There, 11-year-old James Barkley was in bed, unable to walk or talk because of Down syndrome and physical disabilities. As his father and other relatives tried to reach him, the fast-moving fire consumed the first floor and moved upward, sending black, choking smoke up the stairs.
Firefighters also couldn't reach the boy in time, and little James -- known affectionately as Pooh to his family -- died shortly after the noon blaze broke out in the 200 block of Glenwood Avenue. He was the fourth child killed in a fire in Cincinnati this year.
Firefighter Edwina Lyttle directs a ladder operator.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
| ZOOM |
|
"I have completely shut down," said neighbor Earslean Johnson, who was visibly shaken. "I don't even want to think about what that child went through in there."
The boy's father, James Barkley Sr., suffered first- and second-degree burns and smoke inhalation as he tried to save the boy. He was in serious condition at University Hospital.
Firefighter Doug Stafford of the Cincinnati Fire Division's Ladder Co. No. 19 was in good condition at Good Samaritan Hospital after he fell off the garage's first-floor roof trying to reach Pooh. Mr. Stafford, a Cincinnati firefighter for about five years whose father is a retired firefighter, needed surgery on a punctured wrist artery.
Capt. Rick Maly had burns to his cheeks and was treated at the scene.
"There were very big efforts to get him out," Fire Chief Robert Wright said.
John Phillips, 51, Mrs. Barkley's ex-husband, had stopped by to visit and joined the boy's father in rescue efforts, using a quilt to beat down flames.
"We couldn't get to him," said the Woodlawn man, whose eyelashes were singed. "We just couldn't get to him."
Firefighters found Pooh on the floor. The home was not wheelchair-accessible; relatives said the boy's parents typically carried him up and down stairs. A folded-up wheelchair sat undamaged in the unscathed garage.
The two-alarm blaze began on the first floor. Investigators haven't determined a cause.
Chief Wright estimated damages at $100,000 to the Barkleys' beige, three-story, two-family home, which was built about five or six years ago. A fire wall protected the adjoining home.
A nearby house sustained $3,000 damage when flames melted its siding and roof and singed its insulation, Chief Wright said.
Smoldering insulation and the investigation kept firefighters on the scene for about four hours.
Nishala Whittle, 27, was standing outside her home talking with a friend when she smelled smoke. The women looked through the trees and saw the blaze on Glenwood Avenue.
"The whole first floor was just engulfed in flames, and smoke was pouring out of the second floor," Ms. Whittle said. "I was like, if anybody's in that house, the firefighters better get here soon. The house was just melting. I never seen a fire like that before."
Neighbor Makada Niamke called 911 when she saw the smoke.
"The mother (Sylvia Barkley) just kept yelling and screaming for her baby," said Ms. Niamke, 44. "It's a shame. I feel so sorry for that family."
Relatives and friends gathered outside the burned home Sunday as fire officials investigated. When workers brought the boy's shrouded body out of the home, his mother collapsed and screamed as relatives tried to console her.
Neighbors spoke in hushed circles about the boy they often saw waiting for the bus to take him to school in Fairfax.
"He was a wonderful kid," said his bus driver, James Sleet, 66, who lives nearby. "To me, he was like my own child. I'm really heartbroken. When I came up the street, I said, "I hope it's not him.' "
Relatives said they now begin the tough task of helping Pooh's grieving parents recover.
"Pooh couldn't do nothing but lay in that bed," said Evelyn Phelia, Pooh's aunt. "We've got to do all we can now to help them."
