CITY OF LAWRENCE

LAWRENCE DOUGLAS COUNTY FIRE MEDICAL

Monday, September 18, 2006

CONTACT: Mark Bradford, Fire Chief, Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical

or Lisa Patterson, communications manager (785) 832-3406

Monday briefing on activities at 1205 New Jersey

(Lawrence, Ks) – Fire Chief Mark Bradford began today’s media briefing with the following statement, “The Lawrence community grieves with the family who has experienced this tragic loss. Our deepest sympathy is with the family and all of those who are touched by the loss.”

Family members have provided descriptions matching the three individuals removed from the house. Those individuals are Nolan Vender, a 13 year old male; Davonte Brockman, a 11 year old male; Mario Johnson, a 2 year old male. All individuals that were in the residence at the time of fire have been accounted for and identified.

Overnight operations review

Overnight, crews worked through the house conducting a search piece by piece. Heavy equipment was also used to carefully remove debris.

At 11:55 Sunday night, crews found Davonte Brockman. At 4:20 this morning, Nolan Vender was found. Both were on the second floor of the home in separate bedrooms. At 7:35 today, Mario Johnson was found in a first floor bedroom. After being recovered, all individuals were transported to the coroner’s office.

The structure was significantly dismantled during search efforts. Now that the search is complete, the structure will be razed to secure the area and remove any danger from remaining walls.

Cause and origin investigation

Efforts will remain focused on the origin and cause investigation. Interviews and scene analysis will take several days or weeks to complete. Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical will distribute a media release at the conclusion of the origin and cause investigation.

Crews have left the scene.

Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical would like to again express its appreciation for the assistance that has been received from the State Fire Marshal’s office, Topeka Fire Prevention Division, the ATF, and Lawrence Police Department and Douglas County Sheriff.

The support of the community has also been extremely valuable during the past 36 hours.