Family Devastated After Fast-Moving Fire Leaves 5 Dead, Including 3 Kids, In Queens Village
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Five people, including three children were killed Sunday when a fast moving fire swept through a two-story house in Queens.
The fire broke out at 2:35 p.m. in the house at 112-16 208th St. in Queens Village, the FDNY said.
Fire officials said a person driving by spotted flames coming from the first and second floors of the house and called 911. The fire was raised to three alarms before being knocked down.
"Bunch of fire, smoke, people running around," one witness told CBS2's Brian Conybeare.
"It was something like in the house, like either exploding or breaking or just blowing up or something," another witness said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said five people were killed in the blaze, including three children. FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said he believed the youngest victim was two years old.
"This is a very, very sad day for people here in Queens Village," the mayor said. "An incredibly difficult moment for people on this block to see a family literately destroyed before their eyes. This is a very, very painful day."
"This is a terrible, sad time for this block, for this community, for our entire city when we see people lost in such a fashion," Nigro added.
Fire officials said one adult, a 46-year-old man, was able to jump out a second floor window, but the other victims, some trapped in the attic, could not be saved. Officials said the man is hospitalized in "satisfactory" condition.
"We had people in the attic, which for our firefighters is a, I'd say, superhuman task in these conditions to reach that attic and bring people out," he continued.
Sheener Bailey Briggs told CBS2's Erin Logan the 46-year-old man is her brother-in-law. She said he's the father of a 9-year-old victim and grandfather of a 2-year-old victim, both of whom died in the blaze.
Briggs said the mother of the 2-year-old boy was traveling to Florida while the fire took his young life.
"My other niece is on an airplane right now and doesn't know her baby is dead. I just need everyone to pray for my family," she said. "This is too much. I believe in God, but I don't understand why God would let something like this happen."
Briggs said the family just celebrated the 2-year-old's birthday.
"We had Mario Brothers there, and he was running around with his New York jersey on. We had so much fun," she said.
A spokesperson for de Blasio called the fire an "unspeakable heartbreak."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said he was "closely monitoring the situation."
Neighbors saw the chaotic scene unfold and said they could hardly watch as firefighter pulled the badly burned bodies of the children out of the wreckage.
"First thing I thought about was my grandchildren and my family. It was just rough, it was just a real hard thing to see," the witness said.
One man described seeing a distraught firefighter carrying one of the children from the home.
"I just know it's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life," he told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria. "That was horrible."
Neighbors also said the intense flames spread quickly.
"There was no front wall in the front of the house, it's no more," one man told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell. "The fire just consumed, it was flying out."
"I've never had a fire in the spot before. This is the first time," neighbor Emma Garlington said. "It's so sad."
Dorothy Murray's daughter first noticed flames across the street.
"I heard my daughter scream," she said. "When I came to the door, I saw it. Oh my god, I could have fainted."
She said her first instinct was to try and help save her neighbors, her friends, especially the baby boy she knew was inside.
"We babysit him. Cute little fella, he's adorable," she said.
But Murray knew there was little she could do.
"The fire was so intense. There's no way anyone could go in there to save nobody," she said.
She was able to run over and move the family's truck. Fortunately, the keys were inside.
"I drove the car across the street, out of the way. I knew when the fire trucks came they needed space," she said.
Murray said she has a lot of consoling to do. Her granddaughter knew one of the children who lived in the home.
"They're very close friends, and she's hysterical. I might have to take her to the hospital," she said.
Heartbroken family and friends tried to console each other, simply stunned by the senseless loss.
Samuel Williams, one of the victims' cousins, said he found out about the blaze when the family didn't show up for church.
"It's just tearing us apart. You know what I mean?" he said. "They just called the church after we got done with the service and said that there was a bad fire by my cousin's house. I rushed over here and I see two bodies on the ground out there in the front."
"It's just terrible. I'm in shock right now," he continued.
The mayor said this is the largest loss of life in a fire since the blaze that claimed the lives of seven Jewish siblings in Midwood, Brooklyn roughly two years ago.
He also noted the fatal fire comes just days after the FDNY lost one of its own.
"It bears saying at this moment that the FDNY is going through a lot this week, having lost their brother firefighter William Tolley just days ago," de Blasio said. "They came out in full force even in their moment of pain."
"We know that when we lose one of our own, the community mourns with us. And today the fire department mourns with this community at the loss of five people in this home," Nigro added.
The fierce flames also engulfed a car in the driveway and spread to a house next door. No one was home there at the time.
Several firefighters suffered minor injuries, officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Late Sunday night, National Grid crews were on the scene checking for any possible gas leaks, Conybeare reported.
