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By Associated Press
POSTED: 03:34 p.m. EDT, Apr 11, 2008
CINCINNATI: Two suburban firefighters trapped in the basement of a burning house a week ago died of burns and from inhaling superheated gases, a coroner ruled Friday.
Colerain Township fire Capt. Robin Broxterman, 37, and firefighter Brian Schira, 29, died in the blaze. Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens said both died within minutes of falling into the basement.
''They fell into the heart of the fire,'' Owens said.
Broxterman and Schira had been in the basement but went up some stairs into a living room, Owens said. Because the fire had burned the crossbeams that supported the floor, it collapsed and they slid back into the basement.
When that happened, their masks apparently came off or were loosened, allowing the superheated gases to get to them, Owens said.
''This was a very intensive fire,'' he said.
The State Fire Marshal's office has ruled the cause of the fire was accidental and electrical in nature and has turned its findings over to the Hamilton County sheriff's office.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett said that did not necessarily mean there was anything suspicious about the fire because the sheriff's office investigates any fire where someone dies.
A spokeswoman for the Hamilton County prosecutor declined to comment on a separate investigation by that office.
Attorney R. Scott Croswell III, who represents homeowners Matt and Sharyn Cones, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The Cones have been staying with relatives and could not be reached. They had spoken to The Cincinnati Enquirer for a story published Friday.
''I'd lose that house 100 times over if people wouldn't have died,'' Sharyn Cones told the Enquirer.
''What we lost is nothing compared to what they lost,'' said her husband.
The couple had agreed to an interview with the newspaper to convey their condolences to the families of the deceased firefighters.
The area of the finished basement where the fire started was their orchid room, a cedar closet where the previous owners stored clothes. It included a grow light and a fan to pull fresh air in through a vent to the rest of the basement.
''The fire and how it started in the orchid room, it wasn't due to any fault'' on the couple's part, Sharyn Cones said. ''It was just a terrible accident.''
Matt Cones, 33, owns an indoor skateboard park. Sharyn Cones, 34, works in the contract procurement department of a large company. They had lived in the two-story, four-bedroom home since buying it in 2001.
''We just feel so awful for the families. I can't even imagine what they're going through,'' Sharyn Cones said. ''And I can't get it out of my mind what the parents must feel and how (Broxterman's) kids are dealing with this. And her fiance. All of their co-workers. I don't want them to think we don't care.''
CINCINNATI: Two suburban firefighters trapped in the basement of a burning house a week ago died of burns and from inhaling superheated gases, a coroner ruled Friday.
Colerain Township fire Capt. Robin Broxterman, 37, and firefighter Brian Schira, 29, died in the blaze. Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens said both died within minutes of falling into the basement.
''They fell into the heart of the fire,'' Owens said.
Broxterman and Schira had been in the basement but went up some stairs into a living room, Owens said. Because the fire had burned the crossbeams that supported the floor, it collapsed and they slid back into the basement.
When that happened, their masks apparently came off or were loosened, allowing the superheated gases to get to them, Owens said.
''This was a very intensive fire,'' he said.
The State Fire Marshal's office has ruled the cause of the fire was accidental and electrical in nature and has turned its findings over to the Hamilton County sheriff's office.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett said that did not necessarily mean there was anything suspicious about the fire because the sheriff's office investigates any fire where someone dies.
A spokeswoman for the Hamilton County prosecutor declined to comment on a separate investigation by that office.
Attorney R. Scott Croswell III, who represents homeowners Matt and Sharyn Cones, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The Cones have been staying with relatives and could not be reached. They had spoken to The Cincinnati Enquirer for a story published Friday.
''I'd lose that house 100 times over if people wouldn't have died,'' Sharyn Cones told the Enquirer.
''What we lost is nothing compared to what they lost,'' said her husband.
The couple had agreed to an interview with the newspaper to convey their condolences to the families of the deceased firefighters.
The area of the finished basement where the fire started was their orchid room, a cedar closet where the previous owners stored clothes. It included a grow light and a fan to pull fresh air in through a vent to the rest of the basement.
Inside Ohio.com
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