The horrific Brooklyn fire that killed two home-alone kids was likely arson – not a tragic accident as previously thought, investigators said yesterday.
Probers said they now believe the children didn’t set the fatal fire themselves early Sunday morning, mainly because no container with any traces of flammable liquid was recovered in the burned Canarsie apartment.
On the first day of the investigation, fire marshals said it appeared that an accelerant had been used and that the site smelled of gasoline, prompting probers to label the blaze suspicious.
But investigators privately admit they changed course and were leaning toward the theory it was an accident because they couldn’t imagine someone intentionally setting the blaze – knowing a 9-year-old girl and her 19-month-old brother were alone inside the apartment on East 93rd Street.
The children’s 35-year- old mom, Kim Brathwaite, told cops she left the youngsters alone to go to her job at McDonald’s in Downtown Brooklyn after her baby sitter backed out on her.
Investigators said the baby sitter is a 39-year-old co-worker of the mom who had been living in a homeless shelter in Queens – and couldn’t baby-sit that night because she was out looking for an apartment.
Officials said they reversed their theory that the fire had been set accidentally by the kids after further investigation failed to turn up the container.
Probers also revealed more chilling details about the case, including that a liquid was poured in a circle around a baby walker in the bedroom and that the liquid was drizzled to the door, although it never caught fire. It is still unclear whether that liquid was flammable.
A puddle of flammable liquid was found just outside the bedroom door. The liquid and door caught fire, although the flames never entered the bedroom.
Probers said the kids – Justina Mason and her brother, Justin Brathwaite – died of smoke inhalation.
Police said the door to the apartment was locked. Someone needed a key to lock it, they said.
Relatives interviewed include the kids’ mom and each of their dads. The boy’s father had been fighting with his mom over child support, authorities said.