City May Add Fire Inspections

San Bernardino’s mayor on Tuesday said the city would consider increasing home inspections to uncover illegal window security bars, one of the factors that apparently led to three women and three children being killed in the city’s deadliest house fire in nearly three decades.

The city’s fire marshal also announced plans to mail educational fliers on the dangers of the window bars and how, if installed without a required quick-release handle, they can turn homes into deadly firetraps.

In a preliminary investigation of Monday’s deadly blaze, city fire inspectors concluded that a combination of factors led to the tragedy: a cigarette left smoldering in a bedroom; wrought-iron bars welded over two bedroom windows, preventing escape; a possible dead battery in the home’s carbon monoxide detector; and summer breezes blowing through attic vents and windows, feeding the quick-spreading flames.

“We were amazed at how advanced and intense the fire was upon our arrival,” said San Bernardino Battalion Chief Howard Bennett. “In a fire, you need fuel, heat and oxygen ... with the windows open, you’re getting really good ventilation.”

The San Bernardino coroner’s office said the blaze killed homeowner Tina Marie Satterfield, 24, and Marcia Hood, 23, of San Bernardino; Cynthia Morrow, 12, of El Monte; Kimberly Carter, 27, of El Monte; and her children, Chantel Carter, 11, and Elijah Carter, 8.

Satterfield and Hood were roommates, and the two worked as exotic dancers at Deja Vu Showgirls in Redlands. Carter, who also had worked at the club in Redlands, was visiting overnight with her children and Morrow, her niece.

Satterfield’s 6-year-old daughter, Mia, and her 7-year-old niece, Artist Burbank, were rescued by a family member who was asleep in a converted bedroom in the garage.

On Tuesday, Tina Satterfield’s father drove south to San Bernardino to collect his granddaughter, Mia. Michael Satterfield planned to take her to his home in Fairfield, in Northern California, where Tina’s funeral will be held next week.

He said his daughter, who moved to San Bernardino several years ago and had dreams of being a model, was a loving mother who doted on her young daughter. The last time he spoke with Tina was on Mia’s birthday, June 27, before they headed to a neighborhood park for a get-together.

“She was very devoted, and her daughter came first above everything,” he said.

Tina Satterfield installed the window security bars on her small one-story stucco home in the 2300 block of San Anselmo Avenue, her father said, because a thief broke into the house and stole her television and other possessions shortly after she moved in.

The bodies of the three children and two of the adults were found in rooms with windows caged by security bars that were welded shut, preventing escape, fire officials said. The two girls were found directly below one of the windows, a coroner’s official said. The mayor of San Bernardino plans to meet with the city’s fire chief and fire marshal soon to discuss how the city can increase inspections of private homes to prevent this type of tragedy, according to her spokeswoman, June Durr.

But a crackdown on security bars on homes could be difficult because fire inspectors are allowed to enter a private residence only with permission or if they are on the property for another reason, such as a medical emergency, Durr cautioned.

“We are going to look at the situation to see what the fire officials say,” Durr said. “She wants to revisit ways to prevent these cases.”

San Bernardino Fire Marshal Doug Dupree said he had already met with U.S. postal officials to discuss mailing leaflets to all single-family homes in the city explaining the dangers of illegally installed security bars and the importance of smoke detectors. The mailers will be in English and Spanish, he said.

Dupree said the Fire Department is considering distributing similar mailers to children at local schools. The leaflets would include a phone number that residents can call to request a free inspection of any home security bars, he said. If fire officials determined that the security bars violate state law, they would remove them immediately without citing the homeowner, Dupree said.

“We are now in the process of getting everything together to do that,” he said. City building inspectors now inspect multiple-unit rental properties only once a year. In other cities, however, officials have launched education programs that include voluntary inspections and visual checks of security bars from sidewalks or public streets.

In Monday’s fire, however, the security bars were just one factor that may have led to the deaths, fire officials said.

After the fire started early Monday morning, the absence of a fire alarm -- and a carbon monoxide detector that apparently failed to go off -- also may have made escape difficult, said Bennett, the San Bernardino battalion chief. The first units at the scene saw flames and smoke blowing out of the front windows; they rushed to see if they could attack the fire from the back, but fire and smoke billowed out of those windows as well, Bennett said.

Eventually, firefighters were able to cut a hole in the roof and through the ceiling to let superheated gas and flames escape. That allowed firefighters to crawl into the house with hose lines, Bennett said.

Firefighters grabbed three children -- two girls and a boy -- from a back bedroom. They tried to resuscitate them but were not successful.

Fire officials said the initial investigation strongly suggests that a smoldering cigarette or material from a cigarette ignited the fire, which was reported about 3:20 a.m.

All three women in the house smoked, Bennett said. “There were ashtrays throughout the house,” he said.

“We’re still determining that the fire’s origin was in the front middle bedroom and that the reckless or careless extinguishment of smoking materials was the cause.”