Madonna Badger questions cause of Christmas day fire

>>> we begin this half hour with a serious story, our exclusive interview with madonna badger, the woman who lost her children and parents in that house fire on christmas morning . immediately after the tragedy, authorities said they believe ashes from the fireplace started the fire after they were placed in a paper bag by her boyfriend michael borcina, madonna badger has serious questions about that explanation.

>> your relationship now with michael. i know friends of yours or some people in your life asked you how you could still have a relationship with him, how you could be near him, quite frankly.

>> right.

>> how do you answer that question?

>> the answer for me is that we were in the fire together. we were in the fire. we spent the last night on earth with my three children and mom and dad and it was beautiful.

>> there's another reason as well, and it may surprise you.

>> i don't believe that the ashes caused the fire, so i don't believe mike is responsible for starting the fire.

>> why doesn't she believe the ashes caused the fire? for one thing, she knows the source of that theory. it was her in the hospital on the morning of the fire when she spoke to a city fire official.

>> i was begging him, where are my babies? where are my mom and dad ? what has happened? where are my children? he said, well, let me just ask you a question. how do you think the fire was started? i'm like what? like, you know - i said, you know, it must have been the ashes . there must have been embers. it must have been the ashes! , because --

>> that's the only thing you could think of at the time, seemed like the logical --

>> i'm not saying it must have been the ashes -- i'm saying it must have been the ashes . i'm literally hysterical.

>> do you think that became the entirety of the investigation? do you think they just said, okay, it was those ashes ?

>> what do you think?

>> do you think it could have been something else?

>> yes.

>> she comes by her scepticism honestly. it's how she was raised.

>> we used to call my dad, mr. safety man.

>> her father, in retirement a department store santa, had worked more than 25 years as a corporate safety manager.

>> i mean, he changed the batteries in my fire alarms every year for me. he and my mom both were incredibly safety conscious. my mother owned an electrical contracting company in louisville, kentucky. she and i would walk through the house and look at the wiring and go downstairs and look at the electrical boxes.

>> they all knew her home in connecticut needed plenty of work.

>> the electrical system in the house was from the '40s or something. so i was making that house safe. that's what i thought.

>> she says she had the whole house rewired. she installed fire extinguishers and, of course, smoke alarms . and yet --

>> as you woke up choking, madonna , because of the smoke, did you hear smoke detectives! , smoke learns, anything going off in that house ?

>> no, nothing. it was silent. it was the scariest silence.

>> she also wants to know why she saw what she saw after she climbed out of the window.

>> i ran to the edge of my house , and i looked down to the left. there i saw a little bit of flame but mostly just sparks, sparks, sparks everywhere coming out of a window. it was in the back right-hand corner. it was near where the electricity goes into the house where the meter is.

>> even in her grief, she began to ask questions.

>> so how is it that you have a little bit of ashes cause this enormous fire that spreads so quickly with so much smoke that the fire and smoke alarms did not go off? how is it they don't save those alarms? how is it because alarms can be tested after the fact. that's what you do in a fire investigation . that's what i've been told.

>> a forensic investigation .

>> exactly. none of those things happened, because nobody knows where any of the pieces are.

>> nobody knows , because the day after the fire city officials had her house torn down.

>> after the funeral, i had an interview with police. the first question they asked me was why did you have your house torn down.

>> and you said?

>> i said, i didn't have my horse torn down. what are you talking about? you know. they said, well, we were told you had your house torn down. i was like no. then i asked them if they could help me get anything out of the house , t! hat i wa nted to know where my things were that were in the house that might have --

>> been salvageable.

>> they said, we'll find out. so within a three- or four-day period, they brought a bag of stuffed animals , black contractor bag stuffed animals .

>> that was it.

>> that was it.

>> in his official report, the state's attorney concluded the fire was most likely caused by the disposal of fireplace ash. but he also wrote, regrettably the structure was demolished before the state fire marshall's office or any other expert could make an independent examination and determination. the state's attorney decided not to file any charges related to the fire. but madonna badger says she won't stop asking until all her questions are answered.

>> is it imperative for you to answer those questions for lily, grace, and sarah and your parents?

>> absolutely. to honor them with the truth, you know. i believe they deserve that.

>> and if the truth is a bag of ash from the fireplace caused the house fire, that's okay, too, in terms of an answer?

>> absolutely. i have to live with them being gone every single day. the cause of that fire is important for me to know in order to somehow find some peace.

>> the city of stamford, connecticut, declined to address specific questions madonna badger raises citing the possibility of future lawsuits. stamford's legal counsel says the actions were consistent with protecting life and property.