A man and his dog were killed and two firefighters suffered minor injuries in a fire in Queens on Saturday, family members and authorities said.
According to authorities, the fire started around 12:30 a.m. at an apartment at 133-12 133rd Street in South Ozone Park.
Resident Roger Usman, 57, was rescued and taken to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition but was pronounced dead a short time later, his longtime partner, Adrian Tejko, told The Washington Post.
Teiko said Assmann was a retired bus driver whose rescue dog, Dylan, had been euthanized due to smoke inhalation.
“My father would always say, ‘With a name like that, you’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself,'” the 49-year-old recalled.
Teyko said Assmann grew up in the house, which has been in his family for 100 years.
The two had been together since 2001.
Teiko was staying at her mother’s house in Manhattan when the fire broke out.
Video showed heavy smoke coming from the rear of the two-and-a-half-story building.
“He called me and said, ‘Hey, I love you. There’s a fire. I’m scared,'” Teiko recalled.
“So I said, ‘OK, I’m on my way,’ and I heard the firefighters on the phone arriving,” Teyko said.
“And then I hung up because I wanted him to focus on getting out.”
“Tell the people you love that you love them,” he said.
“Because you never know when you’re going to be able to call them for the last time, and then you try to dig through old voicemails just to listen to them.”
According to the FDNY, 25 fire units and 106 firefighters battled the blaze, which was under control by 1:56 a.m.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
