Monday, 4 p.m.
A Facebook page supporting Madonna Badger has been set up at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Madonna-Badger-Family/268749706515897
Thank you to Stamford Patch reader Paige Bludhorn.
Monday, 12:30 p.m.
The day after a Christmas morning house fire on Shippan Avenue in Stamford killed five people, including three young children, a mother visiting the remains of the home with her two children whispered to them as she walked back to her car, "This is very sad, very tragic."
The house, once a $1.725 million, five-bedroom home for Madonna Badger and her family, was demolished early Monday morning.
"It's sad. I know how it feels because I've got kids of my own, and I've been in the fire service for 20 years. I haven't been in many 'fatals', but I know what it's like to be in a fatal," veteran firefighter Earl Cecire said. Cecire, who was a Stamford firefighter for many years like his father, was at the incident site with his mother, Georgeanna Cecire.
"My husband was chief of Glenbrook for 12 years...I've seen fires, but not like this before. This one's really bad," Georgeanna Cecire said.
While police and firefighters are now a scant presence at 2267 Shippan Ave., individuals as far as North Stamford came to pay their respects.
"It's very, very shocking," said one Stamford resident, having ventured from downtown to Shippan.
Active firefighters, such as Patch blogger and volunteer fire official Stephen Gladstone, have expressed as much surprise and remorse as Stamford's residents. Volunteers from Belltown, Sound Beach, and Glenbrook were called in for standby to respond to the fire, but according to Gladstone, were not called to the scene.
An investigation into the cause of yesterday's fire is ongoing, according to Stamford Fire and Rescue.
Original Story
Fire officials are still investigating the cause of a massive Christmas morning house fire that claimed the lives of three children and their grandparents.
The survivors are the homeowner and mother of the children, Madonna Badger, an ad executive, and a male acquaintance.
Stamford police Sgt. Paul Guzda said Badger was taken to Stamford Hospital and suffered no critical injuries.
The early morning blaze destroyed the large Victorian home at 2267 Shippan Ave. and sent neighbors scrambling to dial 911. Firefighters worked desperately to save the children, 10 and two 7 year olds, and the children's maternal grandparents, but the flames were too intense.
"It's never easy. That's for sure," Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte told the Stamford Advocate on Christmas. "I've been on this job 38 years ... not an easy day."
Guzda said the investigation will be lead by Stamford assistant fire marshal of Stamford Fire and Rescue.
The Advocate identified the male survivor as Michael Borcina, "a contractor who had been renovating the home."
