Posted on 08/25/2002 5:31:16 PM PDT by COB1
About three months ago, under the advice of the Texas Attorney General's office, I wrote a registered letter to Joyce M. Carter of the Medical Examiner's Office of Harris County in Houston, Texas, requesting the coroner's report on Herbert Paul Meadows, known to us as CHIEF Negotiator, who died in a fire at his house on October 4, 2001.
That report along with the Houston Fire Department's report on the investigation of that fire has finally arrived.
Without going into the technical aspects of the autopsy report, CHIEF Negotiator's death was ruled as accidental due to smoke inhalation.
NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY:
From the Arson Bureau's report:
"The fire originated at floor level approximately 4 feet west of the east wall adjacent to the south wall in the formal dining area. At this point the sheetrock on the south wall shows calcination along the south wall approximately 6 feet in length in the area below the southeast window. This suggests an area of intense burning and high heat.
The wood wall base trim at the area of origin was deeply charred by the fire. A wooden dining set of 4 wooden chairs and a wooden table were almost completely consumed by the fire. Small charred pieces of the table and chairs were all that remained.
The fire was very intense in the dining room area and spread to the adjacent rooms to the east, west and north. These rooms sustained high heat and fire damage from the fire spread. The fire consumed wooden doors separating the dining room from the kitchen and family room. Burn patterns were consistent with a fire moving from the dining room area into the adjacent rooms."
These next pics I took through the window shown by the arrow:
Continuing with the Arson Bureau's report:
"Investigators observed that the north side garage entry door was kicked open and that a partial shoe print was found on the door. This investigator was unable to determine if the door was forced by firefighters or was forced prior to the fire."[italics and bold mine]
------------------------- From the Arson Bureau's report:
-------------------------
"Captain ------ of L-36 told Investigator ------ that he found the deceased Herbert Paul Meadows lying in a fetal position, with his head against the west wall in the bathroom near the den. Firefighters dragged the victim to the driveway where he was pronounced dead by paramedics of Squad 40."
--------------------------
"Engineer ------- of L-36 reported that he observed two tripped electrical breakers when he shut off the electrical power."
-------------------------
Investigator ------- went to St. Lukes Emergency Room to interview --------(Mrs.) Meadows who is the wife of the deceased. --------(Mrs.) Meadows was transported by H.F.D. ambulance after the fire. -------(Mrs.) Meadows was treated for smoke inhalation and had been medicated by the hospital but she was able to relate details of the fire.
(Mrs.) Meadows told investigators that she and her husband Herbert watched a late night T.V. show and then she had went to bed while her husband Herbert had went into the den to work on the computer.
Mrs. Meadows stated that she was in bed about 10 minutes as was not asleep when she heard a 'noise or crash'. Mrs. Meadows said the sound 'was like something going through a window'. These sounds came from the other side of the house where her husband was working. This sound was followed by loud screams. (sic)'Was like something going through a window!' She described the sounds made by her husband as 'like I never heard him scream in my life!'
-----(Mrs.) Meadows reported she ran down the hall toward the dining area and was stopped by the thick black smoke in the kitchen area. ----- (Mrs. Meadows) yelled at her husband and asked him if (sic) see needed to call '911'! (Mrs. Meadows) stated that she heard a 'muffled' 'yes!' and then lost contact with Herbert Meadows. (Mrs. Meadows) told investigator that she smelled a 'bar-b-que' type odor like 'when you light a fire with charcoal lighter fluid'. (Mrs. Meadows) attempted to call for help on a phone in the house but she reported the phone was dead. (sic) Meadows went outside in the front yard and yelled for help.
------------------
From notes of the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office:
"Arson inv. reveals no..(crossed out).. flammable fluids"
"The investigators.. (crossed out).. smelled gas at scene"
"Not sure if they are ruling arson or not"
This one was not conducted very well. If I turned in a fault report this piss poor, I would get my head handed to me.
I hope someone is still trying to answer the questions, but the report is so bad that I don't have any confidence it is still on-going. If it were on-going, the gaping, cavernous holes would at least be stated as such.
It is very disconcerting that Houston is the same place that has the K-mart incident where about 300 people were unlawfully arrested.
One thing that might be more important is if a breaker failed to trip when there was a high-impedance fault or overload. This condition would result in a heated condition that could ignite a fire, though it would be within the wall and, I would think (and this is pure opinion here), a rather slow fire to develop. It might also have caused more structural damage such as it burned internally before being discovered.
Thanks for the info. I have a sinking feeling you're right on target.
I can understand them not remembering now. But for goodness sake wouldn't the investigators have talked to them a day or two after the fire when they might have remembered something about it?
The question is; was there sufficient current flowing across a loose connection in the dining room to create enough heat to start a fire? And, if it did, would it be a type of fire that grew at a sufficient rate as to surprise someone that was presumably alert in the next room?
It must be, else why would it be mentioned in a report when little else is?
Since he had posted and was actively working his final thread, it seems pretty likely that he did, in fact, head back to the computer and was there reading responses on his thread when the fire broke out.
If your theory of the case is that a crazy person did this (and we both know who that is), then I suppose it's possible that someone could have done what I think is implausible.
I am quite sure, though, that the burns didn't kill him. The smoke surely did. If his wife couldn't even get past the kitchen, I can only imagine what it was like in the den.
Do you know if there was a TV in the dining room?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.