Fatal House Fire Blamed on Faulty Wiring or Fixture

By WYDaily Staff Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A James City County house fire that claimed three lives likely started because of a faulty light fixture or its wiring.

Three family members, Douglas Sanford Johnson, Sr., 54; Sara Elizabeth Johnson, 55; and Douglas Sanford Johnson, Jr., 24, died of carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of smoke inhalation during the Jan. 11 fire at 101 Woodside Lane in the Grove neighborhood, District Chief Bob Ryalls said.

The investigation was led by the James City Fire Marshal's Office, with assistance from the James City County Police Department, Hampton Fire Marshal’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Investigators determined the fire originated in a ground level laundry room at or near ceiling level. This room was located just right of the center of the structure, generally toward the rear of the house, and was adjacent to the stairway to the second floor.

Ryalls said the most probable cause for the fire originating in this area is a 110 volt fluorescent light fixture affixed to the ceiling joists of the laundry room.

The circuit supplying power for this fluorescent light, along with three other fixtures, was not wired through a switch, Ryalls said in a press release. The three lights remain on until physically disconnected from the conductors.

Investigators could not determine whether the fire originated from a failure of the light itself, one of the electrical wiring supplying power to the fixture, or a failure of the connections between the electrical circuit and the light's wiring.

There were no indications the fire had been set intentionally, Ryalls added. The investigation also confirmed there were no working smoke detectors in the home.

The residents became trapped on the second floor because the fire was undetected for long enough to block the stairway, which was adjacent to where the fire started. The staircase was the only means to the ground floor.

One of the residents, a 33-year-old man, survived the fire after James City police officers who arrived on the scene pulled him from a second-story window.

Firefighters pulled one resident from the staircase, but the resident had already succumbed to the smoke. Rescuers tried to get into the house, but a portion of the second story collapsed and made an interior search impossible. The bodies of the two remaining victims were discovered later that afternoon.