Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 18, 1994                   TAG: 9401180077
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HARDY                                LENGTH: Medium

FIRE KILLS 3 CHILDREN; HEATER BLAMED

The blaze killed Tina Kane, 4; John Kane, 2; and Margaret Elizabeth Kane, not quite 1 year old. Their mother, Dorothy Kane, was listed in very serious condition in Roanoke Memorial Hospital's neuro-trauma intensive-care unit with burns and smoke inhalation.

Dorothy Kane's live-in boyfriend, Kenny Martin, was not treated, a hospital nursing supervisor said.

Firefighters said a kerosene heater probably started the fire around 9:30 a.m. Two heaters had been in the baby's bedroom, where all three bodies were discovered, said Stewartsville Fire Chief Mark Hartberger.

"We got there within five minutes and the whole inside was on fire," he said. "The weather conditions were extremely bad."

A kerosene heater and a half-full tank of kerosene sat outside the mobile home's blackened frame. What appeared to be an electric heater sat nearby. A neighbor said the family used the heaters in the front room, near the baby's bedroom.

Burned children's clothes, a melted orange plastic wagon and a doll covered with soot and ice lay scattered outside. A jagged glass jar of green beans set on a chair.

Neighbors said Martin was visiting a friend in Hardy Road Trailer Park when the fire erupted. Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said Martin ran across the yard toward his burning home crying that his children were still inside.

Dorothy Kane's sister-in-law, Diane Shepperd, lives only yards from the burned mobile home. She was at work when it caught fire. "It's a terrible thing to happen," she said, tears filling her eyes.

Kane and Martin have lived together for five or six years. The park's owner, William Spradlin, said Martin used to help clean the grounds for a few extra dollars.

Spradlin said Kane has lived in the park for at least 10 years.

The Bedford County Sheriff's Department was investigating.

Including the Kane children, 10 people have been killed in fires blamed on space heaters in Western Virginia in two weeks. Heaters are the leading cause of fire deaths, according to a state fire official.

Keywords:
FATALITY