WAYNESFIELD — The cause of fire that killed two girls nearly a year ago could not be determined, and there will be no criminal charges filed, according to an investigation report released this week.
The Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office conducted a lengthy investigation into the March 23 fire that killed 7-year-old Keelin Michelle Doty and 10-year-old Trinity Rose Lhamon inside a home at 18339 state Route 196. Both girls died from smoke inhalation. Four dogs also died in the fire.
Investigators said the fire originated in the kitchen at the northeast corner of the house but could not say how it started. They listed sources that possibly could have started the fire as electrical wiring, lights, a refrigerator, stove, toaster, slow cooker, coffee pot and dish washer.
“These items could not be eliminated as the cause of the fire,” an investigator wrote in the report.
A grand jury in Auglaize County reviewed the investigation to determine whether any criminal charges would be filed and declined to return an indictment. The manner of death for both girls were listed as “accident.”
The report outlines the events that occurred that tragic morning with the two young girls left home alone while the mother left the house for a short time. The father left earlier in the morning.
A man driving by the home at 6:43 a.m. saw the fire and called 911. Firefighter Austin Howell was the first on scene with a firetruck. He asked a neighbor and another man to help him since other firefighters had yet to arrive. They took a defensive position outside spraying water at the kitchen area where the fire was most intense and the bedrooms for the children.
Howell did not hear or see the children and could not hear smoke detectors, the report said.
Five to eight minutes after Howell arrived, he said the mother of the children, Amanda Doty, returned home and said her children were in the house. Howell reported she was “hysterical and upset.”
Her husband, Shawn Doty, arrived home about 30 to 45 minutes after Howell arrived on scene.
Amanda Doty had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, the report said.
During the fire, another neighbor ran to the house and broke out four windows to discharge a fire extinguisher into the home.
Waynesfield Police Chief Nathan Motter, who responded to the scene, said Amanda Doty was there when he arrived.
“Chief Motter stated that Mrs. Doty was running around outside yelling the children’s names and stating her kids were inside,” according to the report.
The mother tried to climb into a south window of the house but Motter stopped her, the report said.
When firefighters could safely make it inside they found the body of Trinity Lhamon in a bathroom that had the least amount of damage compared to the rest of the house. The investigator said a cigarette lighter was found on the floor near the girl’s body but it apparently had no connection to the fire.
Keelin Doty’s body was found on the floor of a bedroom with her dog’s body nearby still in bed.
The report describes an intense fire in a rural location that three agencies responded to fight with water from firetrucks and a portable water supply that numerous trucks shuttled in. The first fire truck on scene used up its water supplies within minutes, the report said.
The home had a basement that was not damaged in the fire. Fire investigators found a wood stove in the basement that was connected to the duct system to help heat the house. The stove still contained several burning logs, the report said.
