3 dead in Queens New Year’s Eve high-rise fire inferno.
A traditional Haitian holiday soup left unattended on a stove likely sparked a deadly fire that killed a couple and their relative, fire officials said Thursday
Four firefighters were injured battling an Elmhurst blaze, which broke out in a ninth-floor apartment just before midnight. Building residents said more might have perished if people weren’t awake ringing in the New Year.
BY Ryan Sit
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, January 1, 2015, 4:45 AM
Updated: Thursday, January 1, 2015, 8:06 AM
Three people died and four firefighters were injured when a two-alarm fire tore through a high-rise apartment in Queens just minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve, police said.
The Elmhurst blaze broke out on the ninth floor of the 18-story building on 57th Ave. and Junction Boulevard around 11:45 p.m., fire officials said.
The FDNY's Chief of Department James Leonard said firefighters battled blinding smoke and harsh conditions as they rushed into the burning apartment.
"Under real tough conditions our firefighters pushed down the hall where they entered the fire apartment and they found three people in cardiac arrest," Leonard said. "Very, very tough fire."
About 150 firefighters responded to the inferno, which ripped through three or four rooms in the apartment, Leonard said.
Police identified the dead as Louise Jean-Charles, 59, Napoleon Michel, 69, and Nadia, Donnay, 37, all residents of the unit.
Four firefighters were treated for minor injuries.
One man, who was on the top floor of the building with his friends and family, said stifling black smoke billowed up to the 18th floor and trapped him inside the apartment right at midnight.
"As soon as the ball dropped we opened the door and it was just smoke, thick black smoke. It was suffocating us," Efrain Perez, 42, said.
Danny Iudici/New York Daily News The fire started on the Queens building's ninth floor.
"We were suffocating. We couldn't get out," he said. "We were trapped!"
Linda Peralta, 27, who was at her mother's apartment on the 11th floor, said the tragic fire could have been worse if not for the holiday.
"Thank God it did happen on New Year's Eve. If it was just a regular Wednesday then everybody would have been asleep and the fire could have spread to the apartments next door."
The fire marshal and investigators from the NYPD's Fire and Explosion Unit were on scene early Thursday, and the cause of the fire remained unclear.
________________________________________________
UPDATE
NEW YORK » A traditional Haitian holiday soup left
unattended on a stove likely sparked a deadly fire that killed a couple and
their relative, fire officials said Thursday.
Louise Jean-Charles, 59, her husband, Napoleon Michel,
69, and 37-year-old Nadia Donnay were unconscious inside the apartment when
firefighters arrived minutes before midnight. They were pronounced dead at
hospitals.
Jean-Charles' son, Sergeory Jean-Charles, 36, told the
Daily News of New York that the dish was called Soup Joumou, a
spicy pumpkin soup they make every year. It's served on Jan. 1 — the
anniversary of Haiti's liberation from France.
"It's a New Year's tradition," the distraught
son told the newspaper.
The fire broke out at 11:45 p.m. on the ninth floor of
the 18-story, 220-apartment building. The blaze spread from the stove to the
living room and back bedrooms, where two of the victims were discovered. Fire
authorities said 105 firefighters from 25 units responded to the scene. Five
firefighters were treated for minor injuries at area hospitals.
Fire Department of New York Chief of Department James
Leonard said there were apparently no smoke detectors at the apartment in the
LeFrak City complex in Queens.
"It's a terrible family tragedy," he said,
according to the newspaper. "These people were preparing to have a family
celebration today."
The official cause of the blaze remained under
investigation. A statement from LeFrak City said the building had no fire
violations and the apartment had smoke detectors.
"A smoke detector rider attesting to the presence
of this life safety equipment was signed and initialed by the tenant in
2012," the statement said, according to the Daily News.
Neighbor Linda Peralta, 27, said the tragic fire could
have been worse.
"Thank God it did happen on New Year's Eve,"
she told the newspaper. "If it was just a regular Wednesday, then
everybody would have been asleep, and the fire could have spread to the
apartments next door."