Cleveland Rallies Around Community in Mourning After Sleepover Fire

Date: Sunday, May 22, 2005
By: Monica Lewis, BlackAmericaWeb.com

The entire Cleveland, Ohio community, from the city’s businesses to its residents, has shown an overwhelming outpouring of support for the families and neighborhood left in mourning Saturday after an early-morning house fire killed nine people, including eight children.

According to reports, a sleepover was taking place when the home became engulfed in flames.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway, but initial reports indicate that it was an accident that destroyed the 99-year-old home in East Cleveland. While officials work to decide what happened, the Greater Cleveland American Red Cross is providing grief counseling, food and relocation assistance for survivors and residents whose nearby homes were damaged by the fire, agency spokesperson Mary Gygli told BlackAmericaWeb.com Sunday.

The Red Cross is also assisting with funeral arrangements of homeowner Media Carter and four of her six children, 15-year-old Davonte Carter, 13-year-old Moses Williams, 12-year-old Maleeya Williams, and 7-year-old Fakih Jones. Also killed in the blaze were Media Carter’s nephew, Antwone Jackson, 14, Jackson’s cousin Ernest Tate, 13, and family friends Miles Cockfield, 13, and Chawntavia Mitchell, 12.


“This is one of the worst fires Cleveland has ever seen, and everyone is bonding together,” Gygli said, adding that many local businesses have volunteered to lend services and contribute money. “It’s just been a great amount of support.”

Gygli said representatives from her agency arrived at the scene of the fire a few hours after it began at approximately 3 a.m Saturday morning. They remained on the scene throughout the entire day, as did city officials, including Fire Chief Paul Stubbs and Mayor Jane Campbell, who personally extended her condolences to family members of the deceased.

One survivor was treated for minor injuries and another was listed in critical condition at Cleveland’s MetroHealth Medical Center. A spokesperson confirmed that an adult female from the fire was being treated, but declined to give any details. A representative of the city’s coroner’s office said some of the bodies were burned so badly that DNA testing will be needed to positively identify them, although some were identified after fire department officials interviewed family members.

Assistant Fire Chief Tim O’Toole told the Associated Press that the cause of the fire may center on the house’s first floor, which sustained heavy fire damage. All of the bodies were found on the second floor, which was damaged with smoke and soot. With so many people in the home, an emergency plan may have allowed the victim’s time to escape the fire’s deadly wrath, Gygli said.

“The American Red Cross is always touting preparedness at any rate because you never know if you have to leave your home suddenly,” Gygli said. “It’s not something that people like to think about, but it’s good to have more than one plan in case of emergency.”

Investigators aren’t clear whether the home had working fire detectors. But situations like this should make people more aware of such items in their own homes, Gygli said.

“We just always encourage people that you really need to have working smoke alarms with working batteries,” Gygli said, adding that batteries should be changed once or twice a year and checked monthly.

A 13-year-old American Red Cross program, Operation Save-A-Life, is offering low-income and elderly residents of the East Cleveland neighborhood and surrounding areas information on getting smoke alarms, batteries and education on proper installation.

In addition to being prepared, Gygli stressed that, in the event of an emergency, people should be remember to check on their neighbors. Firefighters removed three people from two adjacent homes through second-floor windows, reports said. The neighborhood, which consists of predominantly low-income families, is approximately three miles from downtown Cleveland. Many of the older homes are refurbished, but some have been boarded up.

Much of Carter’s wood-frame home was charred and the roof over the front porch was partially collapsed and every visible window had been shattered. By daybreak, the smell of soot hung in the air as family, friends, and curious neighbors gathered to view the tragic scene.

"The tragedy was so quick, so overwhelming, the only thing they have asked for at this point is please see if you can figure out how this happened,” Mayor Campbell said to the press following the fire, “and offer your prayers.”


This hurt me to no end. 8 children? What the hell? Not only that, but 3 of these children went to school with one of my best friend's children. They knew them. The oldest of the 8 was my friend's oldest daughter's little boyfriend. He had been to a family barbeque just weeks ago and I met him. And she is devestated. And it just amazes me that it takes 9 people to die for the community to finally do something like Operation Save A Life. Is it a 13 year old Program? I've never heard of it. They step up after a tragedy when they should have been doing something in the beginning to prevent such tragic events. Educate people. Drop fire detectors off at thier houses in the mailbox if they're free. Anything. All of those babies did not have to die.