Barely able to walk
or talk, the child's grandmother, friends say, is
blaming and torturing herself for the loss. The fire
broke out in the living room of the upstairs
apartment in the two-family home. Officials say the
fire was confined to the couches and furniture, but
the smoke and heat would not be held back.
Within minutes,
rescue crews found the boy in a bedroom and
immediately began CPR. But it was already too late.
"Next thing I saw was
them rushing out of the house, down the steps with
the young boy in their arms," neighbor James Turner
said.
"He sustained
third-degree burns about the face, neck, suffered
damage to the airway," FDNY Deputy Chief Michael
Halderman said.
The grandmother,
mother, 4-year-old boy and 3-month-old baby were
home at the time. The grandmother grabbed the baby
and, as she ran out, screamed for the others to
follow. The boy's mother was in the shower at the
time and escaped the flames naked, only to learn her
son did not make it out.
Neighbors valiantly
tried to reach him, but could not make it through
the wall of smoke.
"We kicked in the
side door," neighbor Karlene Ricketts said. "When we
tried to get in through the side door, the black
smoke just rushed us, so we had to run back down the
stairs."
Fire officials say
they are looking into whether or not the home had
working smoke detectors. There is no word on what
caused the fire, but police do not believe it was
suspicious.