Fatal Fire Ruled Accidental

"There was no chance of rescuing those inside."

Those were the words of Warsaw Fire Chief Ken Shepherd during a press conference regarding the fire Friday morning in which three people died.

The fire was ruled accidental and was determined to have started in the living room, where a power strip had several cords plugged into it.

"All of the agencies involved agree that's where it started," Shepherd said, "but we can't identify which one (cord) or why ... that would take an electrician." The ruling was made early Friday afternoon. The State Fire Marshal's Office was in charge of the investigation, with assistance from local fire officials, Indiana State Police technicians and officials from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 4:16 a.m. Friday and found the one-story house at 1504 Maye St. engulfed in flames. Three of the occupants of the home, Kelly Grossman, 40; Ashley Grossman, 16; and Angela Grossman, 12, died inside the home. Kosciusko County Coroner Larry Ladd said Friday night that all three of the victims appeared to have died as a result of smoke inhalation.

Emergency personnel responding to the scene said that the smoke from the blaze could be seen at least a mile away and flames were reportedly shooting 8 to 10 feet into the air.

Autopsies were performed on the three bodies Friday afternoon at a Fort Wayne hospital. Ladd said he is still awaiting the results of the toxicology reports, but said that it is just a formality and he doesn't believe any information will change. Those reports should be made available in seven to 10 days.

Two other family members, Rodney Grossman, no age available, and Richard Lee Grossman, 15 (whose age earlier was released as 13), escaped with minor injuries. Both were treated at Kosciusko Community Hospital and later released. Two firefighters also suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze.

Shepherd said the Grossmans' home had two smoke detectors, one of which was inoperable according to surviving family members. The working alarm sounded, waking Richard Grossman, whose bedroom was in the southeast corner of the house. The teen-ager went to his parents' bedroom in the middle of the southside of the house and woke them.

Because the largest portion of the fire was in the living room and blocked any exit through the front door, Shepherd said, the elder Grossmans and their son went back into Richard's bedroom. Mr. Grossman got his son out through the bedroom window and told him to call for help, while Mrs. Grossman attempted to get the two girls. Rodney Grossman then exited through the same window after he was unable to locate his wife.

"The fire just got too intense," Shepherd said, adding that once Rodney Shepherd was outside, he could hear his wife and daughters inside, but no attempts to rescue them were possible. Warsaw police officers who arrived at the scene prior to firefighters said that the smoke was very heavy and nothing could be seen inside the home. Sgt. Bob Long was outside the southeast window and was calling to Kelly Grossman, whom he could hear coughing inside, but he couldn't see her.

Ptl. Joel Beam attempted to locate the girls in the northeast bedroom, but his calls and shining his flashlight brought no responses from inside. A neighbor, Bill Gardner, broke out the northeast window of the home in an attempt to rescue to girls before police arrived. Gardner placed the 911 call for help after Richard Grossman pounded on his door shortly after 4 a.m.

Kelly Grossman was found just inside the window of the southeast bedroom, while the body of one of the girls was located in a hallway between the bedrooms and the other girl was in the northeast bedroom.

The last person known awake inside the house was apparently up about 2 a.m. and there was no sign of the fire, the fire chief said. The fire didn't spread through the house as quickly as might be believed, though, he said. However, once the windows were broken out, the fresh oxygen may have helped the fire burn faster.

Shepherd said that the house is a total loss and that the insurance adjuster was already on the scene Friday afternoon. Firefighting efforts were hampered by subzero temperatures which left the yard and roadway icy and slippery. City workers used a payloader to push some of the standing water off the road and boarded up the house to prevent any further injuries.

The American Red Cross will be helping the family with emergency food, shelter and clothing, according to executive director Becky Notestine.

Assistance also is being provided to fellow students at the three schools where the Grossman children were enrolled.

Counselors were available from within the corporation at Madison Elementary School, where Angela was a sixth-grader, and counselors were present in each of Ashley's classes at Warsaw Community High School, where she was a sophomore. At Edgewood Middle School, there were school counselors as well as a counselor from Lindenview in Fort Wayne who comes to the school for a half-day each Friday to help students through problems. Additionally, according to Edgewood principal Lynn Simmers, a grief therapy group begins there next week. The group was planned as a second semester offering prior to Friday morning's tragedy and is designed to help students who have lost family members cope with those deaths.

Counselors will continue to be available at the schools next week and beyond.

Shepherd said that there will be a debriefing for firefighters and EMS personnel, too.

Services for Kelly, Ashley and Angela Grossman are pending at Titus Funeral Home in Warsaw.