Funeral held for sisters killed in fire

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NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A sobbing mother gave a eulogy Thursday for her three daughters, killed in a Christmas Day fire in Stamford, Conn., saying they live in her heart.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City was full for the funeral of Lily Badger, 9, and her twin sisters, Sarah and Grace, 7, The New York Times reported. The mourners included Stamford firefighters who tried in vain to rescue the girls and rescue their grandparents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson of Southbury, Conn.

Madonna Badger, 47, the girls' mother, and a friend, Michael Borcina, were the only people to get out of the house alive. Badger broke down several times as she described each of her daughters, the New York Daily News said.

"My little girls are not gone from us entirely because my little girls are in my heart. Right here. And this is where they live," Badger said.

Badger, a successful advertising executive, bought the $1.7 million mansion in Stamford after separating from her husband, Matthew. The couple stood side by side as the three coffins were carried into the church on the Upper East Side.

Investigators believe the fire was started when still-burning embers were raked from the fireplace and dumped where they were in contact with flammable items.