Child playing with lighter started fire that killed Macon boy

Stuffed animals and Spiderman balloons mark a memorial for 7-year-old Zantrell Russell in front of a burned-out duplex in the Anthony Homes neighborhood.

Macon-Bibb firefighters have determined that the March 7 blaze that killed the boy started on a couch in the living room of 1767 Wren Ave.

“It’s looking as if it started with a cigarette lighter,” Macon-Bibb Fire Chief Marvin Riggins said. “One of the children was able to get a hold of it.”

Zantrell was unconscious when firefighters rescued him from the burning two-story building separated into two units. He died the next morning at The Children’s Hospital, Navicent Health.

Two other children, ages 2 and 3, were pulled from the flames by two men who suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to the hospital. One of them also cut his hand trying to save the youngsters.

Nathaniel Thorpe lives two doors down and was asleep when his neighbor started banging on the door after 11 p.m. that night.

“I got in the yard and the fire was too hot,” said Thorpe, who was sitting outside Friday afternoon. “When I got there, there was nothing I could do. It was awful.”

Several fire engines were already in the street by the time he learned of the fire.

He thought the family was now staying with relatives, but was not sure. They could not immediately be reached for comment.

Although there were early reports that the children might have been left inside unattended, Riggins said there were adults close by in the public housing neighborhood.

Bibb County sheriff’s investigators have interviewed those responsible for caring for the children, but no charges have been filed in the case at this time, said Lt. Randy Gonzalez, a public information officer for the sheriff’s office.

“According to investigators, there were adults just outside the apartment that were keeping check on the kids,” Gonzalez said in a text message.

DFACs is also reviewing the incident.

In February 2013, three young children perished after one of them was playing with a lighter on James Street.

But in that case, their mother initially lied about going to the store to get sinus medicine.

Colethia Williams, who put the children to bed before traveling a couple blocks away to her boyfriend’s house, pleaded guilty last year to three counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 10-year-old Nykhiya, 9-year-old Jamarrian and 7-year-old Daija.

Three-year-old J’lon survived as the older children huddled together on top of him.

Williams is serving a six-year prison sentence, and then will be on probation for 40 years.

Thorpe, who has lived on Wren Avenue for 17 years, wonders how the toddlers could be rescued and not Zantrell.

Firefighters say the 7-year-old had retreated to a back bedroom while another child ran for help.

“They were nice little kids,” said Thorpe, who often entertained the youngsters. “All the kids come up here and play. I mingle with them and give them cookies and candy.”

In the two weeks since the fire, the neighborhood has been quieter, he said. “I don’t hardly see no one out.”

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Child playing with lighter started fire that killed Macon boy ."