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Matthew Badger Talks About Christmas Day Fire in First Interview

During the interview with Good Morning America 's Claire Shipman, Badger, talks about how he spent Christmas Eve day with his daughters, 10-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace, at his "cramped" apartment in New York City.

 

Matthew Badger, father of the in the section of , talks about his loss for the first time in a video interview with Good Morning America 's Claire Shipman.

During the interview, Badger talks about how he spent Christmas Eve day with his daughters, 10-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace, at his "cramped" apartment in New York City. A photograph of the father with his smiling girls shows how happy they were just a day before the tragedy occurred.

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"There was a lot of dancing," he says in an excerpt from the interview, adding that the girls had spent the previous week with him in the city. "We had our own Christmas tree. That photograph was the day after we had opened up all our presents so they were all very happy."

The fire occurred in the early morning hours on Christmas Day at the home of Badger's ex-wife, , who escaped the blaze. Madonna Badger's parents Pauline and Lomer Johnson, also died in the fire, which was reportedly caused when Badger's companion, Michael Borcina, a contractor who was at the time, either in the mud room or just outside the house. Borcina also escaped the fire and reportedly made several attempts to rescue the girls and Madonna Badger's parents. Firefighters who battled the multi-alarm fire , but it spread too quickly.

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An investigation by the fire marshal revealed that the 19th Century Victorian installed at the time. It has been theororized that subcontractors working for Borcina may have to prevent them from accidentally going off — however because the house was completely razed within a day of the fire, due to safety concerns, most of the evidence was destroyed.

The state is reportedly still in the case.

In addition Matthew Badger has reportedly hired a private investigator to determine the exact cause of the fire. He has also taken the first step in — however it remains to be seen if he will proceed with the suit.

For more, check out the report on Good Morning America.

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