FATAL FIRE'S IGNITION INVESTIGATED : LACK OF SAFETY DEVICES CALLED `DEATH TRAP'.

Byline: David Bloom and Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writers

The illegally converted garage in Watts where five siblings perished in an early morning fire failed to include safety features required by city code that could have assisted their escape, officials said Friday.

Inspectors found no smoke detector inside the 20-by-20-foot structure, and security bars attached to a window lacked an internal spring release, which is required by law, said David Keim, a city building inspector.

``When you combine them all, it's a death trap,'' Keim said Friday.

The only way out, Keim said, was through a double-deadbolted door, also illegal given the garage's use. Inspectors found the door ajar in the aftermath of Thursday's fire, the keys inserted into the lock's internal side.

Los Angeles fire investigators Friday were examining burned debris - including an oil immersion space heater found near the front door - that may have caused the tragic fire which saddened the city a week before Christmas and refocused public attention on the problem of illegally converted residences.

The city's Building and Safety Department takes enforcement actions against 1,500 illegal conversions a year, but with 400 inspectors, is only able to react to complaints about illegal buildings, rather than sweeping neighborhoods for violations, Keim said.

The department never got a chance to inspect the Curtis family's garage, because the conversion never went through the legally required building permit process, Keim said.

Nevertheless, he said the department is not planning an enforcement action in the wake of the tragedy since the building was destroyed.

``Every law that we enforce is ultimately fineable, but that's not our purpose or intent in this case,'' Keim said. ``(It's) not our job to do any kind of forensic study.''

Fire investigators say they have ruled out arson but have not yet determined the cause of the fire.

Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said charred items are being sent away for laboratory analysis to determine if they actually ignited the blaze.

People moved by the tragedy offered money and gifts. Within 24 hours of the early morning fire, more than 100 phone calls poured into the local police station with residents offering furniture, money, even cemetery plots.

``There's an overwhelming response,'' said LAPD Sgt. Ted Maillet. ``Because of the media coverage, things like this touch people so I'm not surprised that this happened. It's just human nature.''

Killed in the fire were sisters Danielle Smith, 8; Alexis Curtis, 7; and Alexandria Curtis, 6, along with their brothers Alan Curtis Jr., 3, and Alexander Curtis, 1.

Alan Curtis Sr., father of four of the dead children, was burned over 25 percent of his body in the fire and he remained hospitalized Friday in serious condition at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center.

The children's mother, Sabrina Burnett, 41, was listed in fair condition at the same hospital.

Relatives said the family had fallen asleep inside the converted garage, where Alan Curtis Sr. lived, when the flames erupted near the double-bolted door.

Lydia Garner, a cousin of the Curtises', said Burnett thought the heater may have been to blame.

``When I asked her what happened she just said it was a plugged-in heater by the door and when she woke up it was already in flames,'' Garner said. ``That's why they couldn't get out.''

Grieving relatives and neighbors gathered much of the day outside the 105th Street home owned by Beecher Curtis, which fronted the converted garage where five of his grandchildren died.

Relatives said Thursday that a space heater, located by the front door of the converted garage where the children slept, apparently ignited, and that Alan Curtis Sr., who lived in the garage, was unable to save the five children.

Keim said that Curtis had obtained a permit in 1975 to add on a recreation room with a bathroom to the garage. But Curtis had never called for a final inspection and issuance of a certificate of occupancy, and the permit eventually expired.

What inspectors found at the scene Thursday were two additions to the garage, including a 10-by-10 addition which had a door which opened into the living space where the children died.

When inspectors arrived Thursday, that door was open but blocked by debris, Keim said.

``There were two ways out of the garage, but the immediate way out had a double-keyed lock,'' Keim said.

Donations for the family may be sent to the Curtis Family Trust Fund, World Savings Bank, 3326 Imperial Highway, Lynwood, CA 90262.