Arson Killer Hunted

Angry Lover Eyed in Fatal Brooklyn Fire

NY Post 2/1/10

"Who would do this?" cried Miguel Chan, 40, the husband of tragic mother Luisa Ordoñez, 33. "Why? Why her? I felt horrible that to save my children I had to [help] throw them out the window . . . I don't know if this was done by someone, but I hope the police find out if it was and capture the man."

Authorities spent several hours questioning two witnesses who claimed to have seen a tall, Hispanic man fleeing the scene around the time it was set, Saturday at about 2:30 a.m.

But sources said the inquiry was hitting a wall because many of the people living on the second floor -- illegal immigrants from Guatemala -- had vanished.

Investigators said the fire was set in the stairwell -- a lethal choice because it cut off the building's main exit and blocked firefighters from getting up the stairs.

"Any time someone starts a fire in a stairwell, it's a deadly fire," one investigator said. "It's the worst you can get. A fire [that starts in an apartment] isn't half as bad."

Ordoñez perished in her husband's arms after helping to toss their 2-year-old son and 2-month-old daughter to safety from the couple's third-floor apartment.
 

The little girl, Maria Maura, was in critical but stable condition yesterday at Schneider Children's Hospital in Queens with a fractured skull. The boy was fine.

The fire also claimed the life of Juan Barreno, 28, a construction worker who sent his earnings to Guatemala to support his wife and six children.

"We called [his wife]," said friend Luis Javier, 32. "She is inconsolable. She is afraid to tell her children what happened."

The other three victims were identified by friends as Augustin Coyoy, Valerio Cupil and Antonio Ixtazy Mendoza.

cj.sullivan@nypost.com