A “pinched” air conditioner cord in a junk-packed apartment sparked the tragic blaze that took the life a heroic Brooklyn firefighter, sources said Sunday.
The Williamsburg apartment was a cluttered rats’ nest where Angel Pagan ran a home-based haircutting business, neighbors said.
“He had a lot of clutter. He had a lot of things in his apartment,” said Madonna Hernandez, 28. “It was definitely overstuffed and you actually had trouble sometimes entering the apartment because he had so much stuff.”
Steve Santiago, another neighbor in the Independence Houses on Wilson Street, said the home was overloaded with electronics.
“He had a lot of wiring in there, a lot of electronics,” Santiago said. “He had two air conditioners, fans, TVs, a fish tank, a radio system.”
The lifeless bodies of Pagan’s three Yorkshire terriers were found lying next to each other in the bathroom, where they had scurried to escape the flames.
The maze of electric clutter was identified as the cause behind the 9:30 p.m. Saturday blaze, which took the life of FDNY Lt. Gordon Ambelas, officials said.
“The fire originated at an air-conditioning unit electrical cord, which was pinched between a bed frame and the wall of Apartment 19B,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
Pagan told The Post on Sunday that he was at a McDonald’s when the fire broke out. He insisted that the A/C was turned off.
“I don’t know how the fire started,” a devastated Pagan said, lamenting the loss of his dogs.
Pagan said the outlets in his bedroom did not work, so he would run a cord from his living room to his bedroom, connecting his TV, A/Cs and other electronics.
He also denied running a home salon, insisting he only cut the hair of sick people at their homes.
“I feel terrible [about Ambelas’s death],” he continued. “It’s very upsetting.”
Ambelas, 40, a married dad of two, was overcome by smoke and suffered burns to his head as he tried to fight the blaze.
He later died at Woodhull Hospital.
On Sunday, Ambelas’ fellow firefighters mourned their fallen brother outside of black-bunting-draped Ladder Co. 119, where the 14-year veteran worked.
“Just last night, our department has suffered an incredible loss of one of our finest members, and truly one of the best human beings that anyone would ever want to meet,” said friend and fellow firefighter Eric Bischoff during a brief ceremony Sunday.
Ambelas’ kindness and good nature made a big impact throughout his Staten Island neighborhood, according to neighbors.
“He was a good all around guy. A good family man,” said Mike Nolan, 58. “He walked his daughters to school every day and later played outside with them all the time.”
Additional reporting by Kirstan Conleyand Daniel Prendergast