FIRE LEAVES BOYS CRITICALLY INJURED.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

A 7-year-old boy, his pajamas ablaze, was among four people who jumped early Thursday from second-story windows as a Christmas tree fire of suspicious origin gutted their Santa Clarita Valley home.

The boy, Patrick Crawford, was in extremely critical condition with third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body, his breathing aided by a respirator, said Larry Weinberg, spokesman for the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital.

Arson investigators said late Thursday that the fire, which left two other people critically burned, was not an accident and that the cause was suspicious in nature, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Michael Irving. No further details were provided.

A next-door neighbor, Rocci Goodell, witnessed the youngster's efforts to escape the flames.

``I told Patrick, I said, Jump! Jump! I'll catch you,'' Goodell said. ``His clothes were on fire. He kept screaming: Hot! Hot!''

The fire broke out on the first floor of the four-bedroom house in Val Verde, a semirural community northwest of Santa Clarita. It started in the family's Christmas tree, but what sparked the blaze was under investigation, said Battalion Chief Mike Sandeman of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

``The 7-year-old told the firemen the tree caught fire,'' Sandeman said.

Neighbors said they heard screaming shortly after 8 a.m. and saw smoke coming from the beige stucco house, where Patrick, his half-brother Sean Williams, 17, Sean's girlfriend, Patricia Lynn Martin, 20, and the boys' aunt, Dawn Carter, 45, jumped from their upstairs bedroom windows.

As Goodell tried to help Patrick, cringing as her neighbors' windows popped and spattered her yard with glass, her young son, Addison, called 911 - nervously misdialing 1-1-9 on his first try.

``He was screaming, Hurry! Hurry! I'm on fire,'' said Addison, who turns 8 today.

Patrick ran into the Goodells' house, turned on the water in their bathtub and jumped in.

``He did it all by himself,'' said fire Capt. Edward Gil.

Patrick, a second-grader at Live Oak Elementary School in Castaic, stayed with the Goodell family until paramedics arrived. He was taken by helicopter first to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, then to the burn center.

Patrick, though heavily sedated, was responding to nurses, Weinberg said.

Williams, who was also transferred from Newhall Memorial to Grossman to be with his brother, suffered second- and third-degree burns to 43 percent of his body, including his face, arms and legs, and was listed in critical condition. Martin was in critical condition with second-degree burns on her arms and legs. She was being treated at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, as was Carter, 45, who suffered less serious burns and a broken ankle suffered when she jumped from her window.

``Sean? Sean? Where's Sean?'' the distraught Martin called, shaking with pain as paramedics wrapped her burned arms and prepared to transport Williams to the hospital. Carter sat sobbing as her broken ankle was nursed.

Neighbors who crowded the narrow street outside the home said a smoke detector in the house had sounded. Goodell said the boys' mother, Lisa Reese, had left the house earlier for work.

``His mother walked in when (Patrick) arrived'' at the burn center, Weinberg said. ``She's quite emotional. She's devastated.''

Reese later relayed a message to the public through Weinberg: ``Please, please, may we have your prayers for my boys and the others who were injured in this fire.''

Several relatives and family members joined Reese at the hospital.

A team of doctors led by Dr. Peter Grossman worked through the day to stabilize Patrick and his half-brother since the most immediate threat to their lives was organ failure brought on by the trauma, he said.

Patrick's burns extend from his head and face to his chest, back, knees and thighs, Weinberg said. Due to the extent of his injuries, it will be Monday at the earliest before he can undergo surgery to remove damaged tissue and cover the wounds with cadaver tissue.

His recovery could take two to three months, which is considered an extremely long stay in the burn center, Weinberg said.

Williams, who also was on a respirator, is scheduled to undergo his first surgery Saturday and might be able to provide some of his own skin grafts because he was burned less extensively. He will have to spend at least two weeks in the burn center.

They each suffered some smoke inhalation and the damage to their lungs will be assessed during surgery, the hospital said.

``Both of them have youth on their side but Patrick at 7 is smaller and size sometimes will work against him,'' Weinberg said. ``Their bodies are in extreme crisis. This poses a challenge for their systems as they work double, triple overtime.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Map

PHOTO (1--Color) Firefighter Dave Daugherty, left, works to extinguish hot spots at a two-story Val Verde home gutted by fire early Thursday morning.

(2) Firefighters assist a woman injured in a house fire Thursday that hurt three others.

John Lazar/Daily News

MAP: Site of house fire (Val Verde Rd.)