Saturday, January 03, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Madison's story is one of love, death, survival

A day after deadly fire, 7-year-old remembers final hours with family

Madison Martin says his dad saved his life when their house caught fire New Year's Day. Chaz Martin, a doorman at the Flamingo Hilton, had gotten off work early to celebrate the new year with his family. Photo by Jeff Scheid. Chaz and Harrison Martin, above, who are seen at Walt Disney World three years ago, died in the fire. SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL Madison is doing fine physically, according to his grandmother, Victoria Carter. He was treated for smoke inhalation following a house fire Thursday morning that killed his mother, father, brother and friend. Photo by Jeff Scheid. Harrison Martin, who died in an early morning fire on Thursday, is seen three years ago at Walt Disney World. SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL Melissa Martin with sons, Madison, left, and Harrison were planning a return trip to Walt Disney World. SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

Madison Martin, who is 7 years old, begins talking the moment he is introduced.

"This is my true story, and I want the whole world to know about it," he says, sitting on the floor of his grandmother's house.

On Friday, he seems quite healthy, coughing a little every now and then. Madison's brown hair is cut short, and his front tooth is missing. He wears an oversized tie-dyed T-shirt and white socks. The clothes are borrowed, since the fire destroyed all of his.

"We made Chef Boyardee pizza," he says of the night before the fire took his whole family away from him. "It was homemade."

It was New Year's Eve, and his dad, whom everyone called Chaz, was working the swing shift at the Flamingo Hilton, where family members say he'd been a doorman for 13 years.

Charles Martin, 39, got off work a little early that night, and he came home to be with his family for the midnight celebration.

Madison's mom, 34-year-old Melissa Martin, made hot chocolate for everyone, including Madison, a second-grader at Hayes Elementary School, his 6-year-old brother, Harrison, and a 10-year-old friend, Andy Liu.

The group drove out to watch the fireworks at midnight, Madison says, his grandmother by his side. Then they came home, and the children stayed up, even though it was way past their bedtime.

"We were going to watch a movie. Um, let me see, it was 'Finding Nemo.' No, no, I think it was 'Lilo and Stitch,' " he says. "Except that it didn't work, so we just watched cartoons.

"Then at 4 o'clock, the fire came into our house."

He says the smoke alarm woke him up. It also woke Andy, who used to live nearby but who moved to Southern California to live with his grandmother. He was visiting his aunt across the street.

On New Year's Eve, Andy was sleeping over at Madison's house.

When the fire started, the smoke made the house seem like it had pepper spray in it or something. "It was really hard to breathe," he says.

All three boys had been asleep in the bedroom next to his parents' room.

His dad was banging on the wall and yelling.

"My dad said, 'Are you OK, babies? Get out of the house!' "

Andy was not breathing well and was crying, Madison recalls. Harrison, a heavy sleeper, did not wake up at all.

Chaz scooped Madison up first and carried him downstairs, out into the front yard. Madison says his dad took a deep breath because he was having a hard time breathing. Then he went back inside.

He never came out again.

"I ran across the street to where Andy's grandma was," Madison says. "But there was nobody there."

He started screaming. Neighbors came outside. One took him down the street to a nice lady's house.

"I got a drink of water, and that's when the ambulance came."

He was treated for smoke inhalation at University Medical Center, where he was given oxygen and released later Thursday evening, according to his grandmother, Victoria Carter.

"That's when all of my family started to come in and started to worry," Madison says.

There are a lot of people worried about Madison now. Friends have been stopping by constantly, his grandmother notes, some dropping off clothing for Madison, others offering whatever help they can.

Some friends started a bank account for Madison. They're calling it the Madison Martin Memorial Fund and it's at Wells Fargo Bank.

The Clark County Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the fire, which investigators believe started in the master bedroom, according to spokesman Bob Leinbach.

Neighbors described as heroic the actions taken by police and firefighters to save the family. An officer was injured when he fell from a ladder while trying to reach the window, and another hurt his back fighting the blaze, officials say.

Damage to the house was estimated at $100,000, Leinbach says. Much of it was from the smoke.

Carter says it is hard to tell how Madison will deal with the death of his parents and his little brother. He is only 7 years old, and it isn't clear how much he understands.

"They were the most wonderful, loving parents," she says of Melissa and Chaz, who married seven years ago in a ceremony atop the Stratosphere.

The family traveled to Disneyland a half-dozen times a year. They had tickets to go to Walt Disney World in Orlando next week.

The couple met one day when Chaz was staying with a buddy near where Melissa lived.

He noticed her, was struck by her beauty, and asked his friend to introduce them. At the time, Melissa was pregnant with Madison, Carter says. Chaz formally adopted him shortly after the marriage.

"He was his daddy," she says.

Chaz, who grew up in Carlsbad, Calif., loved to surf.

"He was a surfer, no doubt about it," Carter says. "A good one, too. He's still known down there."

Melissa worked with her mom at the beauty salon Carter has owned in town for a decade, but stopped when the kids were born so she could stay home with them.

Carter and her husband, Garry, will take care of Madison now.

Madison seems OK with that.

"This is the only place I got now that's big enough for me," he says.