Madonna Badger Loses 3 Young Daughters and Parents in House Fire (VIDEO)
A fire blazed through a Stamford, Conn., home Sunday killing three children and two adults.
Madonna Badger, an ad executive, and a male acquaintance escaped from the house on the shoreline Sunday, as it became engulfed in flames. According to Stamford Police Sgt. Paul Guzda, Badger's three daughters, a 10-year-old and her 7-year-old twins, tragically perished in the fire.
Badger also lost her two parents who were visiting for the holidays. The male acquaintance was a contractor who was doing work on the home. Both he and Badger were taken to the hospital where Badger was released although the contractor has yet to be discharged.
Neighbors became aware of screaming at 5 a.m. and rushed to the lawn to help. Firefighters were aware that people were still stuck in the house but reported that the flames were too large and had produced too much heat for the house to be entered.
"It is a terrible, terrible day," Mayor Michael Pavia told reporters at a news briefing at the scene of the fire. "There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford."
The house is located in a wealthy neighborhood in Long Island. Property records show the five-bedroom, waterfront home was purchased for $1.7 million last year.
Badger’s husband, Mathew, returned from New York City Sunday morning by police escort. Firefighters have not yet discovered the cause of the fire.
Badger was the creative mind behind major advertising campaigns for leading fashion brands, including the iconic Marky Mark underwear ads for Calvin Klein.
Badger is also the founder of Badger & Winters, a company that has worked with Proctor & Gamble, CoverGirl, A/X Armani Exchange, Emanuel Ungaro and Vera Wang, among other high-profile corporations.
A neighbor, Charles Mangano, had seen Badger and the male rescued from the flaming house. And said, "They were both obviously in a state of shock."
He heard Badger say, “My whole life is in there."