TURNER – Two children burned in a fire that killed their 7-year-old relative on Sunday have been released from the hospital.

Brandon Birney, 11, and his sister, Brandi, 8, were seriously burned Sunday morning after a flammable liquid used to start a fire in a wood stove exploded. The fire killed Riley Davis, a cousin of the Birneys. The boy died after suffering burns over 70 percent of his body.

The children were burned when a fuel used to start a fire in a wood stove blew back on them and they were showered with flames. Police said the family routinely used a liquid to help start fires. The Fire Marshal’s Office said the parents of the Birney children knew the youngsters had been tending the wood stove in the foundation of a house they were building next door.

“I guess it may have been one of their chores. I don’t think (the parents) knew they were over there right then. The parents were still asleep or still in bed. The kids went over early morning to do that,” Fire Marshal John Dean said.

He speculated that an 11-year-old could tend a wood stove if they had experience with it, “but not with any kind of ignitable liquid. No matter what your age is, you don’t put that on a fire.”

The fire happened in the basement of an enclosed foundation owned by Bradley and Bobbi Birney on Betty Road in Turner. According to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Birney family was building a house and had capped the foundation for the winter. They were living next door in a mobile home and were using a wood stove to keep the foundation warm.

Although the Department of Public Safety said Sunday that diesel fuel was the flammable fluid involved, Dean said Monday that his office was still analyzing the liquid and hadn’t yet determined what it was.

After Sunday’s fire, Riley and the Birney siblings were rushed to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for initial treatment. Davis and Brandon Birney were transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland for additional burn treatment. Brandon was later discharged from Maine Medical and his sister was released from CMMC.

Fire and police officials believe Brandon was burned while trying to extinguish the flames that clung to one of the other children.

Tina Ouellette, a neighbor and relative, called Brandon and Brandi Birney “wonderful, very responsible children.”

“I’ve watched them grow up from little babies. They’re just wonderful kids. And their parents, you couldn’t ask for better,” she said.

Richard Davis, Riley’s grandfather, called the 7-year-old a “nice little guy; happy.” Davis lives in Alaska and never got the chance to meet his grandson face to face.

His hope: that others will learn from Riley’s death.

“If enough children know what happened, maybe just one will say, ‘Oh, we can’t do this.’ If it just stops one more from getting hurt or killed, that’s good out of it,” he said. “It’s just a damn tragedy, that’s all it is.”

Riley was a second-grader and Brandi is a third-grader at Turner Primary School. Brandon is a sixth-grader at Turner Elementary School.

The school system worked with Tri-County Mental Health Services and the Center for Grieving Children and provided counselors and social workers for staff and students Monday. In a gathering, Superintendent Darlene Burdin said, Riley’s classmates remembered him as a good friend who always had a smile on his face.

The school system will offer a forum tonight, with counselors offering ways for parents to talk with their children about the fire.

forum

What: Parent forum

When: Tonight, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Turner Primary School