The Alarms Went Off in Fatal Fire

Officials say the victims are a mom, a 5-year-old and twin 4 year olds

By SUSAN GOODMAN and LEANNE GENDREAU

Updated 5:02 PM EST, Fri, Nov 13, 2009

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A 22-year-old mom and her three children were killed in a fire in a Bridgeport apartment early Friday morning.

The victims are a mother and her three children, 4-year-old twins and a 5-year-old child, officials said. The smoke alarms went off and all of them tried to get out of the home, officials said.

Neighbors at the scene identify the mother as Tiana Black and the children as Nyajsia and Tyajsia Williams, age 4, and Nyshon Williams, age 5.

"She was a loving person. If I ever needed her I could count on her," Tiana's friend, Michella Murphy, said.

A neighbor, Ronald Black, said the mother was his niece, Tiana Black, and she worked at Goodwill Industries while attending school.

"She got them to school. She made sure there was food in the house," he said. "She was a real good mom to them."

He said Tiana Black's mother was leaving her home in Raleigh, N.C., and heading to Bridgeport on Friday.

Tiana attended Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Murphy said.

Firefighters responded just before 2 a.m. to the P.T. Barnum Apartments, a Bridgeport Housing Authority complex on St. Stephens Road in the Black Rock area of the city.

Fire Chief Brian Rooney said neighbors heard the alarms early Friday morning and banged on the family's door to try to get them to come out. The door was locked, he said, and firefighters had to break a window to get in.

Nyshon was found on the sofa. The mother had one of the twins in her arms. The other twin was found by the door, trying to get out. All four were pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital, hospital officials said.

The cause of the fire wasn't clear. Rooney said the fire started in the kitchen and wasn't that big, but there was a lot of smoke. Firefighters knocked the blaze down in about 20 minutes, and damage was limited to the one apartment.

Complex officials said the fire alarms were checked on Thursday. The fire was contained to their apartment.

Rooney said the family had visited a city firehouse just last week for fun and had their picture taken. Rooney said firefighters saw the picture on an apartment wall.

The complex was built in 1950, according to the housing authority Web site. It includes 18 three-story brick 20-unit apartment buildings with a total of 360 ranch style units.