A 3-year-old boy’s screams alerted his mother that a fire had erupted in their first-floor apartment in the Bronx on Thursday night. The boy had been playing with the burners on the kitchen stove, New York City fire officials said Friday.
When the mother fled the burning apartment with the boy and his 2-year-old sibling, she made a fatal mistake — she left the apartment door open.
The tragic result was the deaths of at least 12 people, including at least four children. (The New York City police put the number of children who died at four; the fire department said five children were killed).
It was the deadliest fire in New York City in more than 25 years.
The apartment’s stairway acted “like a chimney” as the fire burst from the apartment, feeding the flames and allowing them to spread throughout the building, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Friday.
The boy in the first-floor apartment had a history of playing with the stove burners, Nigro said. The fire commissioner reminded all New Yorkers of his department’s frequent messages emphasizing the crucial step residents must take in the event of a fire.
“Close the door, close the door, close the door,” Nigro said.
The fire commissioner said he’s unsure whether all the smoke detectors were working in the building.
Records from a city housing agency show one of the apartments on the building’s first floor reported defective carbon monoxide and smoke detectors months ago. It’s unclear if those issues were resolved and whether they played any part in Thursday’s fire.
Seven civilians and seven firefighters were injured in the fire, according to the fire department. Four injured civilians are in critical condition.
When you have a fire in your apartment and the whole apartment is covered with smoke you just don’t think about closing the door behind you, the only thing you think about is getting out of the apartment with your family, but it is sad situation that because of her kid so many people had to die
Simple. She was in a state of shock and panic. I one stood outside a burning home and barely had the strength to hold back a teen who was desperately trying to re-enter to save her siblings. Two burly men had to restrain the father. It’s not pretty. It’s terrifying. And you don’t think. That’s why you need to repeat Hatzallah’s number over and over, till it’s ingrained in your mind. Because in a life and death emergency your rational mind shuts down, and only something in your sub-conscience will be accessible. You can’t blame the mother for not closing… Read more »
she should be tried for stupidity.
How do you not close your door to a raging fire in YOUR apartment running out with others in your bldg defies logic on all levels.
How sad!