The
illegal immigrant
charged with arson
and murder in the
Brooklyn boarding
house blaze that
killed five people
purposely started
the fire in his
neighbors' baby
carriage to settle a
score, residents
said yesterday.
Daniel Ignacio, 27,
told cops that
"demons" made him
start the deadly
fire while in a
drunken stupor.
But neighbors said
Ignacio was angry
with Miguel Chan and
his wife, Luisa, for
leaving the stroller
in the hallway of
the Bensonhurst
building. Luisa died
in the fire, and the
2-month-old daughter
she pushed around in
the carriage
suffered a fractured
skull.
"They knew it
couldn't be an
accident," said the
Rev. Erick Salgado,
pastor of the
Jovenes Cristianos
Church, where many
of the tenants
worship. "It had to
be something evil.
He burned down the
stroller because he
was upset they kept
it in the hallway.
He told them several
times to move it,
but they had nowhere
else to put it."
Salgado said the
baby girl, Maria,
underwent successful
surgery yesterday,
and was making a
"miraculous"
recovery.
The couple's other
child, 2-year-old
Josias, survived
after a dramatic
rescue.
"He set it on fire
to get back at them,
but he was so drunk,
he didn't realize
the whole building
would burn down,"
Salgado said.
