Authorities Blame Fatal Fire on Children Playing With Matches

Young children playing with matches in a neighbor’s carport started a fire Wednesday that killed an 80-year-old woman, fire investigators said.

The children, a boy and three girls, ranged in age from 6 to 8 years, said Detective Charlie Inot of the Metro Arson Strike Team.

“They ignited some newspapers on top of a chair in the carport, and the fire got out of control and went up into the house,� Inot said.

Jeweline Wallace was found dead near the doorway of her second-story studio apartment in Southeast San Diego. She died of asphyxiation and burns, a coroner’s office spokesman said Thursday.

The fire started Wednesday about 4:26 p.m. in a house in the 3500 block of Durant Street, and it took 30 firefighters more than two hours to put it out.

The house was damaged and a car and a mobile home were destroyed, neighbors said.

A neighbor said he saw Wallace, who is hard of hearing, come out onto her porch while the fire raged, so he yelled for her to come down.

“I called to her to come out, but she ran back in,� neighbor Robert Woods said Thursday. “I tried to run up the steps after her, but all the steps caught fire. She probably got frightened and figured the safest place was to run back inside.�

Another neighbor said two of her daughters were with the group of children who had the matches, but told her they weren’t the ones playing with them.

Her daughter “feels a little responsible because she didn’t come and tell me (one of the children) had matches,� Addra Regnier said.

After the fire started, Regnier said, her daughter ran home to tell her parents about the fire.

At least one, but possibly all four, of the children involved will be referred to the San Diego Fire Department Juvenile Fire Setters Program for counseling, Inot said.

The owner of the house, Lincoln McDaniel, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

But Regnier and her 7-year-old daughter, Beth, were saddened by the death of Wallace.

“My kids knew her, she used to give them cookies and soda,� Regnier said. “She was a grandmother to everybody.�

Wallace, who was a widow, shared the small apartment with her sister, and the McDaniel family lived in the main house below, neighbors said.