2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire

Fire

The blaze started at 3pm (2200 GMT) on Friday, June 5, 2009. It was initially reported that the fire began in a tire warehouse next door and then spread to the child care center. Further investigation revealed that the actual source was a different warehouse, one operated by the state government. Within just a few minutes the fire caused the collapse of a roof section which fell on the children, infants and employees below. One of the first responders on the scene reported that all children were unconscious or dead and there were no sounds of children crying.

Firefighters took two hours to contain the blaze.

"They told me that this happened in a matter of five minutes," said Hermosillo Mayor Ernesto Gándara.

"According to what our people saw, there was an explosion followed immediately by flames," reported Daniel Karam, the director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). "We began to smell smoke and the alarm went off. But it was explosive and there was no chance to get more children out," stated María Adriana Gasca Sandoval, a daycare aide.

Over 142 children were attending the day care center at the time of the blaze, according to Sonora Governor Eduardo Bours, "There were 142 children in the nursery, 35 have died, and another 41 are hospitalized."

The daycare center had passed an inspection on May 26, the week prior to the blaze. The number of enrolled children, 142 as well as the 6 staff members providing care for them were also within the approved ratio of caregiver to children for day care centers. Reports two days after the blaze revealed, however, that although the warehouse had windows, they were mounted too high and did not provide access to the daycare center for rescue operations.

A fire department officer unofficially reported that the converted warehouse building had only one operational exit. One mother claimed a second exit was locked and the key could not be found. A desperate passerby, Francisco Manuel Lopez Villaescusa, drove his Silverado truck through the walls to gain entrance and knocked three holes into the building.

By Sunday, Sonora state Health Minister Raymundo López Vucovich announced, "In the past few hours three more have died. Twelve of the 22 hospitalized children are in a dangerous condition."

Subsequent hospital care

Many of the injured were cared for in hospitals in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Although 15 medical specialists were flown in to treat the victims, some children were moved to hospitals in other cities in the state of Jalisco which had doctors with specialties in children's burns. One boy could not be moved for further treatment as he has been declared brain dead. Two children were taken to a Shriner's burn hospital in Sacramento, California, USA, for treatment. "A lot of it is how deep the burn is and where it's located and how bad is the smoke inhalation," said Dr. Tina Palmieri, assistant chief of burns for the hospital. She reported that there was only a 50 per cent chance of survival for one of the three-year-old girls who sustained burns to over 80 per cent of her body. This girl was accompanied by her father and arrived in California by Mexican military transport. Her mother, who had herself been working in the day care center, was taken to a Ciudad Obregón hospital after pulling her daughter and several other children out of the fire. The second patient, a young boy, began a series of skin graft surgeries on Sunday June 7, reported Dr. David Greenhalgh, chief of burn treatment at the Sacramento hospital. Both of these patients were listed in critical condition, monitored for infection, and unable to talk because breathing tubes had been inserted.

In the aftermath Sonora state Health Minister Raymundo López Vucovich issued updates. He reported that some of the hospitalized children had been suffering from kidney failure due to severe loss of body fluids caused by the burns. Others in the hospital had respiratory symptoms from smoke inhalation. The burns on some of the victims were so bad authorities had problems identifying them. Javier Alexis Pacheco, aged two, was rushed to the hospital for treatment for burn injuries. There were communication mishaps, however. Four-year-old Hermán Vásquez, with burns on 75 per cent of his body, was rushed to Chávez Hospital but his family did not find out where he was until 6 p.m. that evening.

Remembrances of victims

Deaths occurred from smoke inhalation, burns, and trauma from the roof collapse. Stories of the victims appeared in news stories. Camila, a three-year-old girl perished in the fire from asphyxiation. María, Julio, Fátima, Carlos, Sofía and Dafne were among the 41 pre-schoolers who were mourned at several funeral ceremonies that took place on the Saturday following the blaze. The parents of two-year-old María Magdalena Millán, among those buried Saturday, attached a Dora the Explorer balloon to the cross marking her grave, while her mother cried out, "I love you and I don't want to leave you here!" Germán León battled his injuries, but died Saturday morning, just days after his fourth birthday. The family of 2-year-old Daniel Alberto Goyzueta Cabanillas, who died of smoke inhalation, held a funeral late Saturday afternoon for the boy. The family of 2-year-old Camila Fuentes Cervera also held her funeral Saturday.

Grief and bereavement

Pope Benedict XVI sent a telegram to Archbishop of Hermosillo José Ulises Macías Salcedo offering his condolences, "Together with spiritual closeness, concern, and wishes for a speedy and total recovery of those injured in the lamentable incident....With these sentiments, the Supreme Pontiff, in these moments of sadness, imparts from the heart the comfort of an apostolic blessing, as a sign of comfort and hope in the Risen Lord."

Mexican President Calderón stated, “I want to express in the name of the federal government, of all Mexicans and of me personally, our condolences to the mothers and fathers for this tragic accident.”

Neighbors conducted a candlelight vigil the morning of June 7 at the University of Sonora in Hermosillo.

Day care center ownership

The ABC daycare was federally funded but privately operated. The government's Social Security Institute provided a contact for operation. Two state officials resigned in the aftermath of the incident but were not arrested. Their two wives co-owned the daycare center.

Investigation

President Felipe Calderón placed federal attorney general Eduardo Medina-Mora in charge of the investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire. The President visited the scene and was said to be "enormously saddened." "This has been a painful tragedy for all Mexicans. I have ordered the federal prosecutor to as soon as possible carry out investigations to help us know exactly what and how it happened, and to work out corresponding responsibility," said Calderón.

The investigation determined that the cause of the fire was a malfunctioning of the air conditioning unit in the neighboring warehouse. Also, the warehouse was not equipped with fire extinguishers or smoke alarms.

"The fire was caused by the overheating of an air conditioner due to continuous and prolonged use," said Attorney-General Eduardo Medina Mora. The air conditioner melted its aluminum housing and spread to license plates and paper work in the state government warehouse. The warehouse was closed and empty when the fire started.

There were later suspicions that the warehouse fire was started intentionally.

The investigation revealed that the child care center's fire alarms did not alert staff to the fire because they were installed below a brightly colored ceiling tarpaulin. It is believed that smoke filled the area between the warehouse's high roof and the false ceiling created by the tarp. When the tarp caught fire, smoke and flames collapsed onto the slumbering daycare infants and instantly filled the daycare with thick smoke.

Investigations further revealed that in 2005 the day care center owners had been advised to remove the tarp, widen the main entrance, and increase auxiliary fire exits to bring them up to fire regulation size. Subsequent safety inspections passed without the work being carried out and contracts were re-awarded for the continued operation of the center.

The center was not equipped with water sprinklers which would have automatically engaged in the event of a fire. A marked emergency exit was bolted shut and one mother at the child care reported that no one was able to obtain the key. Hermosillo Fire Department Chief Martín Lugo reported that, although the facility had recently passed a safety inspection, the fire alarms for the building were not installed correctly. Parents stated that although the daycare had 20 on staff, only six were on duty on the Friday of the blaze. In addition, the center was set up for pre-school children aged two to four, but Governor Bours had reported that younger infants were being cared for in the center.

"We always have to be open to improvements, especially when we have a tragedy that has so moved us," said director Karam of the Social Security Institute, who admitted that their security requirements may need to be overhauled in light of the fact that the daycare passed safety inspection on May 26.

Aftermath

Fourteen northern Sonora state finance department officials came under investigation and seven were arrested in connection with the fire for negligent homicide. "They are employees and officials with the Finance Department who have a direct responsibility for the warehouse where the fire started."

The state Finance Department filed a negligence civil lawsuit against the day care owners and the Social Security Institute. The highest official in the Social Security Institute resigned and others were suspended.

Delia Irene Botello Amante, the last person imprisoned for the incident, was released from jail in Hermosillo on January 1, 2014.