Vigil for children killed in house fire

Mourners remember three youths lost in Petersburg as joyful, well-mannered

BY DAVID RESS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Jan 14, 2007

PETERSBURG -- As neighbors began reciting the 23rd Psalm, sobs shattered the calm of a prayer vigil for three children who died in a fire Friday morning
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Dozens of people sought comfort yesterday in words about God the shepherd and the hope he watched over the children as they walked through the valley of the shadow of death. They remembered the children as joyful, well-mannered youngsters -- the ones who died and the ones who survived.

Just regular kids.

One of them, 13-year-old Yorel Hazer, broke her shoulder leaping from the flames at 454 Harrison St., protecting her tiny 6-month-old brother Damian from harm as she saved his life, relatives and neighbors said.

The girl had taken the baby from her mother, Diamond Hazer, who returned to the flames to try to save two of her children, 11-year-old Na'Tyah Hazer and her 6-year-old brother Mark Banks Jr.

Diamond Hazer was not successful. She is now in critical condition at VCU Medical Center with burns to her face, arms and legs that may require skin grafts, family members said.

The children's cousin, John Harper Jr., 16, also died in the fire that consumed the home his mother and aunt shared.

Petersburg fire officials, who initially said three boys died, have not released victims' names, pending formal identification by the state medical examiner. Initially some family members gave the family's last name as Hazel.

Seven members of Diamond and Hope Hazer's families survived.

"They were happy-go-lucky kids," said grandfather Johnny Wilson, reminding his wife, Donna Hazer, about how the children would climb over her to greet them as they made one of their regular visits from Washington, where Diamond Hazer and her sister Hope grew up.

"Whenever they saw us, they're out the door running to us."

Yana Denysenko, an exchange student from Ukraine, remembered her deceased Petersburg High School classmate John Harper as a patient friend who would always take time to help her learn about the new country where she now studies.

"He explained really much," she said, eyes tearing.

The fire left the sisters' families with nothing, said Talaya Rogers, a cousin who grew up with the sisters in Washington.

"They need everything. . . . They don't even have a place to go," she said. The family has set up an account, called the Hazer Fund, at Bank of America for anyone who wants to help.

Family members said the sisters have not made funeral arrangements yet and are still unsure of what will happen next. VCU reported that two family members are in critical condition, one is in serious condition and three are in stable condition. A seventh survivor is not in the hospital.

Fire officials believe the fire burned about an hour before the alarm came in.

The owner of the house said he installed at least four smoke detectors before the sisters' families moved in, questioning an early report by the fire marshal that no smoke detector had alerted the family as the fire spread.

Landlord Donatus Amaram said he had no idea that there were 10 people living in the 1,600-square-foot house or that the electricity and gas had been cut off, despite monthly visits to collect rent. He said the sisters were supposed to tell him everyone who lived there, under the terms of their lease.

Amaram said the sisters were behind in rent but that he had canceled a request to the Petersburg sheriff's office to evict them in November, after Diamond Hazer said she had a new baby and didn't know where she would find a place to live.

He said the house had a gas-forced air system and electric baseboards, but he added that if the tenants weren't paying their electricity and gas bills, those systems wouldn't have worked. Amaram said the detectors he had installed were battery-powered and should not have been affected by the electricity cut-off. He said he had received no notices of code violations at the home.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. But no one on Harrison Street can shake the memory of how quickly the fire raged.

Neighbor Charles Cheatham still remembers the long moment of silence when Yorel Hazer jumped free from the fire with her baby brother, and then the sound of the baby's crying.

"If you've got kids," he told the vigil yesterday, "everyday, put your hand on them. . . . Please y'all, stick with your kids. Kiss them."

Contact staff writer David Ress at dress @timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6051.