Easter Sunday apartment fire in Livonia claims second victim, 10
Updated On: May 02, 2013
A second fire victim, a 10-year-old fourth grader at Roosevelt Elementary, has died from injuries suffered in a fire at Franklin Square Apartments on Easter Sunday.
Myna Ngo, who was rescued by Livonia firefighters and rushed to a hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation, died at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police and fire officials.
On Easter Sunday morning, Livonia police officers and firefighters arrived at the scene of the apartment complex on Five Mile just east of Middlebelt. Four of the family members were outside of the complex and a 10-year-old daughter remained inside a bedroom, while the fire burned at the apartment and at an entrance to the apartment.
The parents and two of the daughters escaped the fire by jumping from the balcony. Firefighters went into the apartment and removed the 10-year-old girl.
“They went in and performed CPR,” said David Heavener, fire training coordinator.
Firefighters managed to revive her, but she had remained in critical condition for several days after the fire, Heavener said. Son Tin Le, 41, the girl’s father, died in the fire, while her 6-year-old sister remained hospitalized at Mott Children’s Hospital, police and fire officials said. The 6-year-old girl remains in critical condition, but is improving, according to Heavener.
Her mother and a younger sister were treated and released from Botsford Hospital on the day of the fire.
Livonia fire officials have not completed their report yet on the blaze. Police Lt. Tom Goralski said Livonia police believe that the cause was “probably electrical” and accidental, according to preliminary findings.
Roosevelt Principal Kay DePerro sent a letter home Monday to parents. The letter offered parents resources on how to talk to their children about the tragedy.
“We share our deepest sympathies with the Ngo family as they struggle with the loss of their father and sister,” the letter read.
The school is accepting donations to help the family. Anyone wishing to help the family can drop off or mail donations to the front office of Roosevelt, 30200 Lyndon, Livonia 48154. For more information, they can call the school at (734) 744-2775.
Fire investigators continued an investigation Wednesday into the cause of an Easter morning fire at Franklin Square Apartments that killed a Livonia man and seriously burned two of his daughters.
The man, 42, died later that afternoon after suffering burns and injuries from the fire that originated inside the second-floor, two-bedroom apartment he shared with his wife and three daughters.
Two of the daughters, ages 10 and 6, remained hospitalized in critical condition at Mott Children's Hospital.
The man's wife and youngest daughter, who is about 2 years old, were treated at Botsford Hospital and released the same day. Firefighters returned Tuesday morning to fight another fire in the same building, which was unoccupied due to the damage from the fire two days earlier.
Girl, 10, was still inside
On Easter Sunday, Livonia police officers arrived at the scene of the complex on Five Mile just east of Middlebelt at about 5:25 a.m. Four of the family members were outside of the complex. Officers learned that a 10-year-old girl was inside the unit, so they tried to extinguish the fire inside the building to access the apartment unit's entrance.
“They went up the steps to the second floor, but that is where they stopped because of the fire's intensity,” said Sgt. Patrick Moug of the Livonia Police Department. They used fire extinguishers, but the heat and the fire were too intense, Moug said.
Firefighters from five Livonia stations also arrived. Some of the firefighters worked to extinguish the fire while another rescue crew of firefighters entered the apartment, Fire Marshal Dan Lee said.
“We were told that someone, one of the babies, was still in the bedroom,” Lee said. Firefighters entered the apartment and found a daughter, 10, in the bedroom. “She had pulled a blanket over her face and head,” Lee said.
That daughter, her 6-year-old sister and the father were rushed to Botsford Hospital, then transferred to the U-M Trauma Burn Center. The two sisters have since been transferred to Mott Children's Hospital.
Michelle Lukitsch said when she arrived, the father was lying on the ground suffering from burns. “I covered up the daughter,” Lukitsch said. “She had burns on her legs.”
4 jumped from balcony
The parents and two of the children had jumped from the apartment balcony to escape the fire before firefighters arrived, Lee said.
The family's apartment had extensive fire damage, Another upper level unit had moderate to severe damage, Lee said. Two other upper level apartments had minor smoke and heat damage, while the lower level units had minimal water damage.
On Tuesday, another fire was reported at about 2:40 a.m. at the unoccupied building. The building of eight units was left uninhabitable after Sunday's fire, so no one was in the building and no evacuations were necessary, according to Moug.
Lee said he hoped to conclude the investigation by the end of the week. Lee believed the second fire was accidental, and did not believe there was criminal intent in the first fire, but added that the fire investigation still hasn't been completed in either fire. Lee is waiting for more information on the investigation before finalizing the cause and whether both fires were accidental.
“Currently we are not looking at any criminal intent, but it hasn't been completely ruled out,” Lee said. “Until the report is closed, everything is in play. We're still busy with the investigation.”
