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STAMFORD, Conn. Stamford mom Madonna Badger broke down and cried Thursday morning in an emotional interview with "Today's" Matt Lauer as she discussed the Christmas Day fire that claimed the lives of her three daughters and parents.
I couldnt get in, I couldnt get in the window, a crying Badger said as she described her desperate attempt to save her children. She said the smoke coming out of her daughter Graces window was like an ocean.
Badger told "Today's" Matt Lauer that she believed she had working smoke detectors in her Shippan Point home but that they were silent Christmas morning and that she woke because she was choking on the smoke in her bedroom.
During the interview she told what took place before the fire started and how her boyfriend, Michael Borcina, was cleaning out the fireplace and running his hands through the ashes as he placed them into a bag. She also remembers seeing the bag as she headed upstairs to go to bed.
I should put that outside, I should put that outside, she remembers telling herself, but felt it was safe because he had put his hands through the ashes.
Fleeing her home to escape the fire, Badger said she saw Borcina, with his eyes burnt shut, yelling to the girls to jump to him. She and Borcina were then transported to Stamford Hospital, and she did not hear about the deaths of her daughters or parents until three hours later, she said.
If you missed the interview on Today, you can watch it online or Thursday at 10 p.m. on Rock Center With Brian Williams.
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