A mother and her grown daughter were killed in a blaze that swept through a Brooklyn apartment building early Wednesday and forced residents overcome by smoke to flee for their lives down the fire escape, neighbors and officials said.
The fire erupted about 1:30 a.m. on a first-floor bodega, D’Bonao Grocery at Belmont Avenue and Chestnut Street in East New York, and quickly spread to the second and third floors, an FDNY spokesman said.
More than 130 firefighters responded to the four-story building, where the women — who neighbors said were mother and daughter — were found in serious condition on the third floor.
They were rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, officials said.
Luz Pachecho, whose mother-in-law lives in the building, said her family grew up with the victims.
“They were beautiful, very charming, a quiet family,” the 50-year-old said.
Mary Williams, 73, who lives across the street, said the women — the elder in her 60s or 70s and her daughter in her 40s — lived alone in the apartment, where they had stayed for approximately 30 years.
Three other people, including a firefighter, suffered non-life threatening injuries.
An FDNY fire marshal investigation found the flames were ignited by sparks from an unattended electric heater, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
There were no working smoke detectors in the apartment where the women lived, Nigro said.
“It’s a very sad story to tell that all too often we either find there are no smoke alarms present or a smoke alarm that’s not working,” he said. “Our job is to save lives and anytime we can’t it’s very sad.”
Several residents were rescued from the building as the flames spread and smoke reached the fourth floor, officials said.
Some residents said they managed to escape with their children from the smoky blaze.
“I could not breathe, I could not see anything,” said Mohammed Nawaz, 40, who fled down the fire escape with his wife and two kids, ages 4 and 2.
“I was worrying, but I had no choice. I had to climb the fire escape twice. I took one child down and then went back up for the other,” he recalled.
Fransisco Cruz, 44, lives right above the deli with his wife and two children, ages 3 and 8.
“There was a lot of smoke in the hallways,” he said. “We lost everything but we thank God we have our lives. It’ll take time but we can replace what we lost.”
The fire was under control around 3:40 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.
The American Red Cross is assisting 18 families — 47 adults and 25 children — and will be working with them to get them back on their feet, a spokesman said.
Wednesday’s fatalities make 17 fire deaths so far this year. There were 26 fire-related deaths in December — “the highest number in decades,” Nigro said.
Additional reporting by Shawn Cohen