3 1/2- year old boy was turning burners in his kitchen in the building, Thursday, near the Bronx Zoo on Prospect Avenue near East 187th Street, and ignited the flames, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
The fire was New York City’s deadliest residential fire in decades, the fire made it’s way through every floor of the building within a matter of minutes, killing 12 people, including a 1-year-old baby, city officials said Friday.
The boy’s mother, who was in the apartment but not with the child at the time, was alerted of the flames by screams and grabbed him, along with his 2-year-old sister and fled their home.
They left the door open, Nigro said, which allowed the fire to rapidly spread.
“The stairway acted like a chimney,” Nigro said, engulfing apartment after apartment in rapid succession. “Upstairs people had little time to react and couldn’t get back down. Some who tried perished.”
Nigro said the fire broke out on the first floor of the building and quickly spread up through the five-story, 25-unit building.
“Our hearts go out to every person who lost a loved one here and everyone who is fighting for their lives,” he said.