In the Brooklyn apartment where a kitchen fire started and killed a mother and her two children early on Friday morning, there was no smoke alarm, according to authorities.
Around five in the morning, the NYPD reported that police and firefighters were called to reports of a fire at 587 Gates Avenue in Bed-Stuy.
A mother and two young kids were taken from the apartment by EMS and sent to NYC Health & Hospitals Woodhull, where they were later confirmed dead, according to officials, while the FDNY battled to put out the fire. Later, the victims were revealed to be Journee Miles, 11, Keslee Miles, 9, and Danielle Havens, 48.
“This is an incredible tragedy for this neighborhood, for this family,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh told reporters on the scene.
According to Kavanaugh and fire officials, the fire had been raging for some time when they arrived three minutes after the alarm went off and found considerable fire and smoke.
The FDNY claimed in a tweet that the absence of a smoke alarm and “cooking carelessness” were the causes of the incident. The building’s lower floors experienced minor water damage, but the fire was only able to spread to the third storey.
At the scene, Mayor Eric Adams stated that the fire occurred roughly a block from his residence.
He declared, “It’s just a terrible situation.” “Our thoughts are with the family,”
Andrea Brown, a neighbor downstairs, claimed she had been asleep.
She recalled only being told there was a fire and running outside. It was merely smoke.
Brown claimed that her residence is uninhabitable and that she is presently awaiting placement in temporary housing. On Friday, the Red Cross was assisting displaced people.
When the weather was fine, the girls would play hopscotch on the sidewalk, according to another neighbor, Darlene Brown-Bezear. On Friday morning, glass from the broken windows above covered their final hopscotch chalk drawings at the scene.
The two girls would occasionally visit Brown-Bezear’s apartment to watch Disney Channel TV shows, but one of her three cats perished in the fire. They were taught songs from Mary Poppins by Brown-Bezear, and they would all sing together.
She remarked, “They were a treasure.” “It will be empty,”
She described the mother as a devoted mom who devoted a large portion of her leisure time to her kids. She said that the family had only recently moved into the apartment.
Before dawn on Friday, when the woman was on the sidewalk and EMS was attempting to revive her, Brown-Bezear last saw her neighbor.
They were beating on her chest, according to Brown-Bezear. She appeared to be dead just from seeing her there.
“She loved those kids, and she was beautiful,” Brown-Bezear added. She didn’t need to pass away.
The family’s little black dog was the only survivor from the flat. Hours after the fire, according to Brown-Bezear, firefighters carried him down, and he was hosted by the victims’ families.
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