82-year-old man killed in Queens house fire, FDNY investigating cause
NEW YORK -- Dramatic new video shows a roaring, three-alarm fire on Sunday morning in Bayside, Queens.
The FDNY said an 82-year-old man was killed.
Neighbors on 26th Avenue saw the aftermath of the blaze -- the charred home, debris and yellow tape -- when they looked outside Sunday morning. Firefighters said the flames were already spreading rapidly when they got to the scene.
"The whole front was, it was sky, sky high, man, the fire going all over the places," neighbor Anthony Modica said.
Modica said he woke to the sound of his neighbor screaming as he tried to help the 82-year-old homeowner get out.
"The other guy, Steve, across the street tried," Modica said. "He threw a brick through the window and was screaming the guy's name," Modica said.
Sadly, the FDNY says the 82-year-old man, who was on the second floor, did not survive. Firefighters described the challenges they faced when they arrived.
"When you have a heavy fire condition like that -- it's a lot of thick, black smoke -- you really can't see anything, and then you have clutter conditions where you're going in, you're searching, you're bouncing into things. Its hard to search," an FDNY official said.
While the FDNY has not released the name of the person who died, neighbors say he was a kind man who lived in the neighborhood for decades.
"He was a Little League coach. He knows us since we were teenagers and we always hung out. He drove us like to Carvel, stuff like that," Modica said.
The FDNY is still investigating the cause of the fire. The department said the man who died was the only person inside the building.