AP News, February 27th, 2007
Two children and two women were killed early Monday in a fire at an apartment complex in suburban Detroit. The overnight fire seemed to have started in the kitchen on an electric stove, Southfield Fire Chief Peter Healy said.
There was a smoke detector in the home, but it wasn't working because there was no battery inside the device, said Southfield Fire Marshal James Dundas. Had it been working, the residents should have had enough time to escape, he said.
"These people didn't have to die. They apparently woke up to an apartment that was filled with smoke," Dundas said.
The victims were identified as Sherrie Tobe, 26, and her 2-year-old son, Tremaine, as well as another woman, Cassandra Motley, 23, and Motley's 3-year-old son, Keyambe.
The Motleys lived in the apartment and the Tobes were visiting, said Tobe's sister, Caron Kinchen. Kinchen's 22-year-old daughter, Sakinah, also lived in the apartment but was at her boyfriend's house at the time of the fire.
"She just happened not to be home. Thank Jesus for that," Kinchen said.
Healy said a neighbor smelled smoke and called 911. Fire officials got the call after 2 a.m. When firefighters arrived at the sprawling complex of two-story red brick buildings, they found one woman and a child in a bathroom, a child in a closet and the other woman in a bedroom.
"They were brought out of the apartment right away" and emergency personnel tried to resuscitate them, he said.
The four were rushed to hospitals, but were dead on arrival, Healy said.
