Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007
by Contessa Crisostomo and Melissa J. Brachfeld | Staff Writers
The Derwood teenager who lost three members of his family to a fire last week returned to classes Tuesday, just days after his younger brother, mother and grandmother were laid to rest.
Redland Middle School Principal Carol A. Weiss said Tuesday morning that the school was glad to have 13-year-old Oscar Sanchez back and that a school counselor would be working with the teen to make his return to class ‘‘as smooth as possible.”
Oscar’s father, Oscar Alejandro Sanchez Sr. of Gaithersburg, was with his son Tuesday morning at Redland.
About 200 people attended the Friday funeral service for Sanchez’s 5-year-old brother Adam Sanchez, his mother Guillermina ‘‘Gail” Curiel Garcia and grandmother Paula Curiel. The three were killed in the early morning hours of Dec. 10 after fire swept through their Derwood home.
Monsignor Mark E. Brennan told the congregation gathered at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Gaithersburg that ‘‘death does not have the final word” and to comfort each other ‘‘in this time of great loss and pain as high as the heavens and as deep as the sea.”
Most of the funeral Mass was given in Spanish.
At the end of the service, the priests assisted family members in carrying the three caskets out of the church. They walked out slowly and tearfully, sending those in attendance into tears as they said their final goodbyes.
Fire officials continue to investigate the blaze, Pete Piringer, a spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services, said this week. He said investigators have ruled out electrical appliances as a potential cause and are continuing to focus on the electrical wiring of the house and a religious shrine that held candles.
Thirteen-year-old Sanchez was the only family member in the Muncaster Road house to survive. All were asleep in the house when the teen was awakened by the noise of a smoke alarm going off just before 4 a.m. Dec. 10.
Sanchez escaped out the back door, ran to a neighbor’s house and banged on the door, shouting that his house was on fire and his family was trapped inside, fire officials reported.
The teen and the neighbor called 911 and then returned to the burning home, but were not able to get inside. Fire and rescue units arrived a few minutes later and initially had trouble entering the home because of the intensity of the blaze.
The deaths brought the number of fire fatalities in the county so far this year to 13. ‘‘The most we’ve had in 30 years,” Montgomery County Fire Chief Thomas W. Carr Jr. said during a press conference on Dec. 10.
Since the fire, members of the Redland Middle School and Sequoyah Elementary school communities and other area residents have reached out to the teen. Adam was a kindergarten student at Sequoyah Elementary School and would have celebrated his sixth birthday on Dec. 12.
The PTAs for the two schools have set up a fund at Sun Trust Bank for Sanchez. The Redland Student Government Association did its part by collecting donations last week to go towards buying a new bicycle for him.
Sequoyah Elementary School Principal Bobbi Jasper said school staff plans to meet this week to discuss a way to memorialize Adam.
She said the school community is still coping with the loss of the young boy, but things are slowly returning to normal.
‘‘There’s still some sadness, but it’s not with the same intensity,” Jasper said. ‘‘We will never forget our Adam.”
To help
The PTAs of Redland Middle School and Sequoyah Elementary School have set up a fund at Sun Trust Bank tin support of Oscar Sanchez called the RMS PTA for Sanchez Angel Fund.
Checks made payable to ‘‘RMS PTA for Sanchez Angel Fund” can be sent to:
Sun Trust Bank, 18200 Flower Hill Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20879.
Redland Middle School, 6505 Muncaster Mill Road, Rockville, MD 20855.
Sequoyah Elementary School, 17301 Bowie Mill Road, Derwood, MD 20855.
