P.I. tours scene of fatal Warwick fire

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - Private investigators on Monday were allowed to examine the Buttonwoods Avenue home in Warwick where four young adults and a baby were killed by a fatal fire.

The family of 20-year-old Tayla Lackey requested permission for the investigators to examine the home. At the time, they said their investigator would be looking for different evidence than state and city investigators.

"There is an incredible amount of smoke involvement on the second level," says Daniel McKiernan, a lawyer who personally viewed the damage.

Lackey, along with Nick Jillson, Dan Janik and Amanda Villeneuve all died of smoke inhalation the morning of February 6. Janik & Villeneuve had a 7-month-old daughter named Annabelle who also died.

Under an agreement reached during a conference at Kent County Courthouse on February 18, a private fire investigator will also be allowed to conduct depositions of fire officials and other investigators once the state finishes its investigation. The inspector was also granted permission to tour the home under strict guidelines.

"Each team that went through the house was escorted by an appropriate official," McKiernan confirmed. "There was compliance with the judge's order."

As part of the agreement, public records in the case must be delivered to the court and sealed so Judge Daniel A. Procaccini can review them. The judge said the process will go one step at a time.

The official cause of fire has not yet been determined , but investigators do not believe it is suspicious.

"The impact was mostly on a personal level because I'm not a fire investigator," McKiernan said Monday. "There were many momentos and photographs and things of that nature. It clearly underscores the level of this tragedy."