In this Dec. 25, 2011 photo, firefighters investigate a house in Stamford, Conn. where an early morning fire left five people dead. The Hartford Courant reported Monday, May 9, 2016, that in a lawsuit deposition, contractor Michael Borcina said he lied to protect the children’s mother Madonna Badger, who was the one who left a bag of fireplace ashes in a mudroom, which were suspected of causing the fire. AP Photo — Tina Fineberg, File
In this Jan. 5, 2012 photo, Matthew Badger, left, and ex-wife Madonna Badger, parents of three girls killed along with their maternal grandparents in a Christmas morning fire in Stamford, Conn., react as caskets are carried into a church during a funeral in New York. A charity that Matthew Badger started announced Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, that he had died at age 51. AP Photo — Seth Wenig, File
HARTFORD >> Jury selection is set to begin in a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Stamford over a house fire that killed three children and their two grandparents on Christmas morning in 2011.
Lawyers are to start picking jurors Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court.
Stamford officials deny allegations they failed to properly inspect renovations at the home and possibly destroyed evidence of the fire’s origin by tearing the house down the day after the fire.
The fire killed 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah Badger, 9-year-old Lily Badger and their maternal grandparents. Their mother, Madonna Badger, and her boyfriend, Michael Borcina, survived.
The girls’ father, Matthew Badger, filed the lawsuit on their behalf. He died in February.
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