FDNY officials said a blaze that killed five people in a Queens home Sunday afternoon started in a car parked in an alley.
Firefighters arrived within four minutes of the 2:36 p.m. call to find heavy fire engulfing the two-story home at 112-16 208th Street.
Those who perished were ages 2, 9, 14, 20 and 45, sources told the New York Post. One man jumped from a window to escape the fire and is listed in stable condition.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said two of the children were trapped in the attic, adding that “for our firefighters, it’s a superhuman task to reach [the attic] in that condition."
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot things,” resident Foster McPhee, 67, told the newspaper. “The baby was burned literally to a crisp. The guy who was carrying the baby out, you could just see the stress on his face. I’m just emotional about it because I’m a grandfather and I have kids, too.”
A resident in the basement apartment, Lloyd Taylor, escaped and said it was too late to help those trapped by flames.
“I just heard a commotion. And it wasn’t a regular commotion, it was kids in pain. All I could think about was the kids. But there was no way for anybody to get back in there.”
The fire spread to an adjacent home and four alarms were called to tackle the blaze.
"We know that when we lose one of our own, the community mourns with us," said Nigro. "Today, the fire department mourns with this community and the loss of five people in this home."
"This is a devastation of a family you rarely, rarely see, but it has happened here in Queens Village today," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press conference.
