CARMEL — The sole survivor of Tuesday’s deadly fire was re-interviewed Wednesday by investigators still trying to determine what sparked the quickly spreading blaze that killed the young man’s parents and two sisters.
A police dog found no traces of accelerants, a law enforcement source told The Journal News. But police are still pursuing the case as a potential crime, sending samples from the scene Wednesday to a state crime lab in Albany and pursuing follow-up interviews with Thomas Sullivan Jr., neighbors and others.
“We’re not saying he’s a suspect or anything like that,” Carmel Police Chief Michael Johnson said Wednesday. “We’re just trying to get information. We have questions as to where the family was in the residence, whose room was where.”
Larchmont police Capt. Thomas Sullivan Sr., 48, his wife, Donna, 47, and daughters Meaghan, 17, and Mairead, 15, died in the blaze, which started in the living room or porch on the north side of the house at 19 Wyndham Lane.
The police chief said the investigation may take several weeks to complete.
Sullivan Jr. spoke with investigators Tuesday but apparently gave a more detailed account to relatives. His uncle, Thomas Zielinski, told the paper that his father saved him and then ran back upstairs to try to rescue the rest of the family.
The police chief said he read the uncle’s account and that, “(Thomas Sullivan Jr.) didn’t tell us what the uncle was quoted in the paper as saying. We have to talk to him directly.”
“It’s not just him,” the police chief continued. “We’re re-interviewing neighbors, other individuals who might even remotely have seen something or know something.”
Putnam County Coroner William Stahl said Wednesday that the four victims all died of asphyxiation from breathing smoke and carbon monoxide. It appears they died, he said, before being burned.
Autopsies were conducted Tuesday night, he said, and included an examination of the victims’ physical features. The second and third parts of the autopsy, which include histology and toxicology exams, will be completed in the next two weeks, he said.
A neighbor called 911 to report the fire at 1:53 a.m. Tuesday. The fire was so hot when firefighters arrived that it was impossible for them to conduct an interior attack.
Sullivan Jr. was asleep when his father woke him by screaming, “There’s a fire, Tommy, get out of the house,” Zielinski told the paper.
Sullivan Jr., wearing no shoes or his glasses, crawled down the stairs in shorts to escape through the garage, while his father charged upstairs to try to save his wife and two daughters.
Only after pounding on a neighbor’s door did the 20-year-old son look back to see his entire house engulfed in flames, said Zielinski, who met with his nephew late Tuesday. Zielinski and his brother-in-law, Sullivan Sr., both had worked as New York City police officers.
“Let me tell you something, Big Tommy was a good man, he loved his family,” Zielinski said. “I don’t care if there was a wall of fire, he was going to go through it, because I don’t think he could live without his family. He would have done anything, and he did.”
It took until 5 a.m. for 75 firefighters to bring the fire under control. A utility crew from Central Hudson Gas & Electric was on the property Wednesday morning with local police inspecting the house. The gas lines belong to Central Hudson, and the crew examined the site briefly.
The son, who was treated for smoke inhalation, is staying with his grandfather, surrounded by relatives who came in from out of town.
“He was cognizant of me and family,” Zielinski said. “There were a lot of hugs and cries and kisses and support.”
People throughout the community are showing support for the young man and his family. At John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, where the son graduated in 2010, students and staff packed the school chapel Wednesday for an after-school prayer service, said Alex Malecki, the school’s public relations director who taught Sullivan Jr. in freshman English. Sullivan also played junior varsity football.
“There just aren’t words to describe what happened,” Malecki said. “We’re asking for prayers and strength for Tommy.”
He is currently a student at Dutchess Community College, where he studies information management, which carries an Associate of Science degree.
“This student has suffered a tragedy of unimaginable proportions,” said Dr. D. David Conklin, Dutchess Community College president. “Our campus community extends heartfelt condolences and stands ready to comfort and support Tom as he moves forward.”
Both of the Sullivan girls went to Carmel High School. Mairead was a freshman and Meaghan, a senior, was also studying nursing at Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES.
Sullivan Jr. had only recently started a summer job at the Larchmont Public Works Department, said Mayor Anne H. McAndrews.
On Monday, McAndrews said she saw him mowing the front lawn outside the Village Hall on Larchmont Avenue.
The Journal News
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