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BENTONVILLE, Ark.— Five young sisters who died in a house fire apparently never awoke to realize their danger or endure any pain, Fire Chief Dan White said Wednesday.

“We’re going to have to wait for the results of the autopsy to know what the cause of death was,” White said. “But it appears that they never woke up.”

The girls, ages 5 to 13, were found in a bedroom they shared in the attic of a small frame house near Bentonville’s downtown. White said the bodies of two of the girls were in separate beds, and the other three girls were found on the floor where they apparently slept. All five were in sleeping positions.

A smoke detector was found in the small bedroom, but it didn’t have batteries, White said.

Officials believe the fire was accidental. The fire chief said investigators were looking closely at an electric space heater found near the Tuesday fire’s point of origin to determine if it played a role in starting the blaze.

“We want to know if there was any involvement,” White said. “Was there a defect? Did something get up against it?”



The Associated Press











The space heater is in the hands of the Bentonville Police Department.

Police Lt. Jon Simpson said the space heater and other evidence in the case will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for examination. The bodies of the victims also were sent to the crime lab for autopsies.

The victims were identified as Kristan Frazier, 13; Kimberly Frazier, 11; Katelyn Mahmens, 9; Kaila Frazier, 8; and Kiya Frazier, 5.

Authorities identified the father as Jamie Dale Frazier, 33, and the mother as Karry A. Mahmens Frazier, 27. Neither parent was injured in the fire.

Police served a search warrant on the home later Tuesday, based on items that officers saw after the fire. Among the items seized were the space heater and a small amount of suspected methamphetamine. Officers said there was not enough meth on hand to indicate a lab was in the home.

“In no way did the manufacture or possession of any drug contribute to the fire,” Simpson said Tuesday.

Simpson said Wednesday that materials seized when the search warrant was executed included some marijuana-related paraphernalia, such as bongs and small pipes, along with “a few packages with very small amounts of what was field-tested as methamphetamine.”

“Our plans are to work through the fire investigation, work through the drug investigation, and see if there are any points that intersect,” Simpson said Wednesday.

The results will be provided to the office of Benton County Prosecutor Van Stone, Simpson said.

Stone said Wednesday that his office would work with police on the investigation.

“When there are interviews to be done, we’ll be there,” Stone said. “They’re keeping us apprised as they go.”

The parents were cited in 2004 on charges of endangering the welfare of a minor. According to police records, officers were dispatched to the area in January of that year when the youngest child was found about 100 yards away next to a neighbor’s house wearing a diaper and pullover shirt on a 30-degree day.