Conn. fire victim had career as safety chief

[December 27, 2011]  HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A man who died with his wife and three grandchildren in a house fire in Connecticut on Christmas had a long career as a safety chief at a liquor company in Kentucky and worked as a department store Santa Claus this season.

A day after fire swept through his daughter's upscale house in Stamford, Lomer Johnson was remembered fondly as a stickler for safety by a former boss at Louisville, Ky.-based liquor maker Brown-Forman Corp., where Johnson retired from his job as safety and security director several years ago.

"He spent his career trying to keep others safe," retired Brown-Forman executive Robert Holmes Jr. said Monday in a telephone interview. "And the irony is that he dies in a fire."

Neighbors said they were awakened by screams shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday and rushed outside to help but could do nothing as flames devoured the large Victorian home.

New York advertising executive Madonna Badger and a male acquaintance were able to escape the blaze, but her parents, who were visiting for the holidays, and her daughters were killed.

The Hartford Courant newspaper identified the remaining victims as Badger's mother, Pauline Johnson, and daughters, 10-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah. The Johnsons lived in Southbury, about 45 miles northeast of Stamford.

The acquaintance was a contractor working on the home, police said. He was identified by the Stamford Advocate newspaper as Michael Borcina.

The severely damaged $1.7 million Victorian house situated along the Connecticut shoreline was torn down Monday after the buildings department determined it was unsafe and ordered it razed, local fire Chief Antonio Conte said.

Conte had no details on the investigation, and no information about the cause of the fire was released.

He said the bodies were found on the second and third floors and on the stairway between the floors. Lomer Johnson's body was found near a window with one of the girls, Conte told WFSB-TV. He said it appeared he was trying to help her escape.

Johnson most recently worked as a Santa this year at the flagship store of Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a store spokeswoman said.

"Mr. Johnson was Saks Fifth Avenue's beloved Santa, and we are heartbroken about this terrible tragedy," spokeswoman Julia Bently said in a statement.

Holmes, who worked with Johnson for more than a decade at Brown-Forman, remembered his co-worker as a big man with white hair and a commanding presence.

"He was a man of not a lot of words, but when Lomer spoke or gave his opinion, it was always well thought out," Holmes said.

He said he was a bit surprised that the longtime security chief had become a department store Santa but added, "I could see Lomer doing something like that because Lomer had a passion for people."

During Johnson's long career with Brown-Forman, whose many brands include Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and Southern Comfort, he was responsible for security and safety at the company's headquarters and production plants. His responsibilities included helping plan fire drills, Holmes said.

"He spent his life as a safety professional making sure our facilities were safe from fire," Holmes said. "And in the event there was a fire, that people knew what to do in terms of getting out of the buildings."

Badger, an ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of New York-based Badger & Winters Group. She was treated at a hospital and was discharged by Sunday evening, a hospital supervisor said. Her whereabouts Monday were unknown.

Borcina also was hospitalized, but his condition wasn't released.

Property records show Badger bought the five-bedroom, waterfront home for $1.7 million last year. The house was situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.

The lot where the house stood was covered with charred debris and cordoned off by police with tape on Monday. Passers-by left floral bouquets, stuffed animals and candles.

Neighbor Tim Abbazia, who did not know the victims, said the fire occurred in a neighborhood where century-old homes are common and that it would make everyone assess fire safety. He said it could not have been any more tragic.

"Regardless of which day it happened, I don't think it could be any worse than it is," he said.

The fire was Stamford's deadliest since a 1987 blaze that also killed five people, Conte said.

[Associated Press; By STEPHEN SINGER]

Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., and Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.

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