Caney Creek Firefighters find victim after extinguishing fire early this morning.
Montgomery County Firefighters were called to a mobile home fire just after 7:30 this morning at 13844 Henry Harris Rd near the Grangerland Community. The first arriving firefighters from Caney Creek Fire and Rescue found fire had involved most of the single wide home at that location.
Firefighters attempted to enter the home immediately, but were unable to rescue 16 month old Anna Stanfield. After extinguishing the fire, they found her body in one of the home’s bedrooms.
Anna had been living in the home with her mother and great-grandmother, Joyce Stanfield. The family had moved in just 3 weeks before the fire. At the time of the fire, Anna and Joyce Stanfield were home, along with a 10 yr old relative. All were reported to be asleep when the fire broke out near the foot of their bed where a space heater was located.
According to the 10 yr old boy, the family awoke to find fire and heavy smoke in the room. Joyce Stanfield attempted to rescue her great-granddaughter and was severely burned on her upper body and face. Neighbors rushed to the home and found the 10 yr old trying to pull Joyce out of the house through the front door. With the neighbor’s assistance, Joyce Stanfield was rescued and transported by medical helicopter to a burn center in Galveston in critical condition.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies and MCHD EMS were on scene quickly and took over the care of both the 10 yr old and Ms. Stanfield. The boy was transported to Conroe Regional Medical Center for evaluation and has been treated and released.
The home was not equipped with central air or heat and the family had been using space heaters for heat during the recent cold weather. Investigators located the space heater in the room where the fire started and recovered it from the debris for further examination and testing. The investigation into the cause of this tragic fire will continue, as Investigators will continue to sift through the fire scene.
Justice of the Peace Trey Spikes has ordered an autopsy and MCFMO Investigators will travel to Dallas to participate in the autopsy as part of their investigation. Although preliminary autopsy results will be available in the coming days, it may be several weeks before all testing is complete and a final determination can be made as to the exact cause of this fatal fire.
This marks the second recent fatal fire in the Grangerland area. Another mobile home fire in December 2010 claimed the life of 2 ½ yr old Jaiden Cole. In both cases discovery of the fire was delayed by lack of working smoke detectors and during the confusion the child was lost in the heat and smoke generated by the fire.
Children and the elderly are 4 times as likely to die in a residential fire according to national statistics. Residents are urged to make sure that working smoke detectors are located in every room, especially bedrooms. During a fire in your home, having working smoke detectors cuts you and your family’s chances of dying by 50%.
Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code requires landlords to provide working smoke detectors when a home or apartment is first rented. It is the responsibility of the tenants to keep fresh batteries in them and notify the landlord if a detector fails during testing.
For more information contact the MCFMO or go to our website www.mctx.org/fire
