A fire at a Key West apartment building resulted in the deaths of three people, including a child, and the injury of three other children on Thursday.
Parents, Jean Decimy, 41, Evelyn Pierre, 38, and child, 7-year-old Dave Decimy, were killed when a fire broke out around 7 p.m. Thursday at 1010 Emma Street in Bahama Village. A 14-year-old and two other children are among the survivors. Those three children were taken to Kendall Regional Hospital.
The fire was confined to a single unit, according to reporting from the Key West Citizen.
The Red Cross and the Key West Housing Authority worked Friday afternoon to ensure that power was restored to the building, a multi-family, two-story complex with approximately eight units.
Another child, a 15-year-old student from Key West High School, told reporters with Channel 6 South Florida about how she, her uncle and her brother pulled a fellow classmate to safety.
The smoke detectors allegedly alerted the family to the flames, but they struggled to escape, according to CBS News Miami.
A GoFundMe for the Decimy family, which Leesfield & Partners will contribute to, was created by a friend of the family following the tragic fire. As of Monday morning, the online fundraiser has raised money for funeral services, childcare, clothing, food and other essential needs for the surviving children.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the state fire marshal, according to the Key West Fire Department.
Florida Fires by the Numbers
In the United States, there are an average of 300,000 structure fires that take place each year, causing millions in damages. The most common cause of a house fire in the United States is cooking-related, though anything from disregarding a lit candle to faulty household appliances could cause a potentially dangerous situation. Almost three out of every five fatalities in house fires are in homes that are not equipped with working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
In Florida, only 330 fire departments reported National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) data in 2022. There are 388 fire departments currently registered with the National Fire Department Registry. The data for that year shows that there were 1.6 deaths per 1,000 fires with 8.9 injuries per 1,000 fires. The national averages for 2022 were recorded as 2.1 deaths and 6.4 injuries per 1,000 fires. Residential structure fires were linked to 4.5 deaths per 1,000 fires in the state and 31 injuries. The national average was 6.1 deaths per 1,000 fires and 19.8 injuries.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners has a long history of representing injured clients and their grieving families in Key West and throughout the Florida Keys. The firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, tried his first case in Monroe Country in 1973, three years before establishing Leesfield & Partners. Since then, Mr. Leesfield and the attorneys at the firm have secured record settlements and verdicts for those injured throughout the Florida Keys.
Pertaining to fires, Leesfield & Partners has handled numerous burn and explosion cases over 48 years, including a client who was burned in the operating room while undergoing a medical procedure. The firm secured $600,000 for the client in that case.
Leesfield & Partners secured $862,000 for a client who was injured as the result of a burn incident at a construction site.
In an explosion that caused severe burns to a client, the firm secured a $3.25 million recovery.
For a client who was injured as the result of a grill explosion, Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured $2 million. The client in that case suffered third-degree burns, a burn type that destroys the first three layers of skin and fatty tissue and requires immediate treatment.
A fire stemming from a faulty TV set at a family’s Florida condo resulted in the devastating loss of their 13-year-old daughter and significant burns to the father, who tried saving the child during the incident. The firm secured a $2.95 million award for the family in that case.
The firm also secured a confidential amount for a family who lost a mother and her two young children when they became trapped in their home during a house fire. The cause of the family’s entrapment were faulty windows that their landlord neglected to repair. The cause of the fire in that case was found to be a defective electrical outlet.
Continued Support of Key West
In addition to his personal injury practice, Mr. Leesfield remains a staunch supporter of Monroe County, particularly the community in Key West where the firm occupies one of three Florida offices on historic Whitehead Street. Through his family’s charitable organization, The Leesfield Family Foundation, Mr. Leesfield gives annually to Key West initiatives aimed at bettering the lives of those who need it most. Over the holidays, Mr. Leesfield contributed to food banks such as the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition and the Star of the Seas Foundation. Mr. Leesfield has also remained a supporter of the athletic department at Key west High School. This year he gave to the Lady Conch’s Softball Program to support the continuation of the girls’ softball team who secured a record of 109 wins, played in a State Semi-Final and won two regional championships. Coming up in Key West is the Dexter Butler Scholarship, a $5,000 college scholarship for Key West High School basketball players who live out the example set forth by the late and beloved teacher and coach, Dexter Butler.
“I have known the Butler family for my entire 45 years working in Key West,” Mr. Leesfield said. “There is no finer family in the community who has done more for high school athletic programs. Dexter Butler was a true role model.”