Hard-Wired Smoke Alarms Not Hooked Up In Madonna Badger’s Home

We’re also learning new details about the family’s frantic attempts to escape the burning $1.7 million, five-bedroom, waterfront home – purchased by Badger last year.

Officials Tuesday revealed that Lomer Johnson - Badger’s father and the grandfather of the three girls - died as he tried to save one of the children.

Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte said Johnson apparently collapsed on the roof outside the window of a bedroom, where one of the girls – standing on a pile of books so he could reach in and grab her – was trapped inside.

"When he went out the window, that's when he succumbed and she died just inside the window," Conte said.

Johnson - who recently played Santa at Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in Manhattan -  apparently fell through the rafters; the home was being renovated and the family wasn’t supposed to stay there until the work was done and the property was deemed safe.  

"He died on the outside, and she died on the inside," Conte said. "She was right next to him."

In addition to the three girls and Lomer Johnson dying, his wife ( Badger’s mother) also perished in the fire.

One of the girls who died was found with her grandmother at the bottom of the stairwell between the second and third floors.

Badger and her house guest Michael Borcina - described as her boyfriend - managed to escaped the fire;  Borcina had been staying with Badger as she renovated the Victorian home.

Stamford's fire marshal Barry Callahan said the blaze broke out sometime between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Sunday after the couple went to bed after wrapping Christmas presents. Authorities say Borcina put fireplace ashes in a bag and left it either in or outside a mudroom and trash enclosure attached to the rear of the house. The fire was reported just after 4:40 a.m.

"The fire entered the house quickly and spread throughout the first floor and up two interior vertical openings, trapping the occupants on the upper floors," Callahan said.