Six people trapped by security bars die in San Bernardino fire

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) Three children and three women died when a fire described as the city's deadliest residential blaze in decades engulfed their home, and illegal wrought-iron security bars trapped them inside, authorities said.

One adult and two children survived the blaze that was apparently sparked just after 3 a.m. Monday by a smoldering cigarette. Robert Henderson, a relative living in a converted bedroom in the garage was credited with rescuing the two girls from the burning house.

Neighbors were awakened by screams coming from the modest three-bedroom home. ``All I just heard was screaming, screaming for help,'' said next-door neighbor Mariela Mendez, 18. ``I went outside to check what was going on and I just saw fire everywhere.''

The fire killed homeowner Tina Marie Satterfield, 24, and Marcia Hood, 23, both of San Bernardino, as well as Kimberly Carter, 27, of El Monte. Carter's children Chantel Carter, 11, and Elijah Carter, 8, also perished in the blaze along with their cousin Cynthia Morrow, 12, also of El Monte.

Satterfield's 6-year-old daughter, Mia, and her 7-year-old cousin, Artist Burbank, were rescued from the blaze by Henderson. A coroner's spokesman said Satterfield lived in the house with her daughter and Hood, who apparently was her roommate. Both women worked as exotic dancers in Redlands.

Carter, who apparently also had worked as a dancer, was staying at the house after a party, friends said.

Neighbors and co-workers said Satterfield worked hard to pay her mortgage and raise her daughter. ``She struggled, but she was determined to do it. She was a good person,'' said neighbor Johnny Mandivil, 49.

Fire Marshal Doug Dupree said the three children appeared to have died from smoke inhalation, but the location of two of the women's bodies led investigators to believe they had died trying desperately to pry open barred bathroom windows at the rear of the home. The third woman died in the kitchen, just steps away from the door.

``Those bars are strictly against the law,'' Dupree said. ``This is why.''

Firefighters arrived at the house seven minutes after the fire was reported and extinguished it about 15 minutes later, but by that time the house was gutted.

Hours after the fire had been doused, black wrought-iron security bars were still dangling from two bedroom windows. Firefighters had used rotary saws to cut the bars away to enter the home. They found welded bars on the room where the children were found and the bathroom where two of the women died trying to escape.

Satterfield's sister Teresa Lundberg said Satterfield had installed the bars out of fear of neighborhood crime. Wrought-iron bars are a common security measure found in poor, high-crime neighborhoods.

Fire officials said the blaze was the Inland area's most deadly residential fire in decades. ``Frankly, we have a lot of fires like this: single-family homes engulfed in flames,'' said San Bernardino Fire Capt. Jeff English, who has fought fires in the area for a decade. ``I heave never seen one this tragic.''

The fire started in the middle bedroom of the home and investigators believe it was caused by a still-burning cigarette. ``The adults were all smokers, and they were smoking indiscriminately all over the house,'' English said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)