Island Fire Claims Elderly Woman's Life

NY1 News 3/22/09

An elderly Staten Island woman is dead after her home became engulfed in flames Sunday morning.

Officials say the fire started in the basement of a private home before 6 a.m. at the corner of Reno Avenue and 10th Street in New Dorp.

RuPing Li, 90, was taken to Staten Island University Hospital in cardiac arrest but was later pronounced dead. Neighbors say she lived in the area for more than 50 years.

One firefighter says he was asleep when he smelled the smoke from his home a few blocks away and called the local fire department before springing into action.

"I kicked the door open and it opened in one shot and there was a lot of smoke in there, there wasn't much smoke coming out the house until I kicked the door open. I really couldn't go that far. I went as far as I could and I tried," said Allen Callahan, Engine 245, Coney Island.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.