An 86-year-old woman died in a fire in Queens along with her son, who fearlessly ran back into the burning house desperately trying to save his mother, witnesses and the FDNY said.
The fire broke out in the basement of a home on 164th Street between 108th and 109th Streets in Jamaica around 6 p.m., and was noticed by passerby Gersham McGowan, who stopped his car and called 911. .
But before making the emergency call, Ms McGowan said she spoke to a 61-year-old man outside her home and was told she had to go back in to save her elderly mother.
“He never came out, his mother never came out, and then I saw them remove two bodies from the house,” McGowan said.
Police and fire officials confirmed the deaths of two people.
“This is sad,” Ms McGowan said. “This is sad because two lives were lost. The man had the courage to go back into the house to help his mother, but he never succeeded.”
Another witness, Chantal Gubad, described the fatal accident as “horrifying”.
“It was too much,” she said. “I've been busy, I've been busy.”
More than 100 firefighters were called to fight the blaze, which quickly spread from the basement to the second-floor attic and was extinguished more than an hour later, the fire department said.
The two victims were found by firefighters on the second floor, FDNY Deputy Chief George Healy said at a news conference.
Mr Healy said medical equipment was found in the home, which may have prevented the mother from leaving the house without help.
“When we arrived, there was indeed heavy fire,” he said.
After the fire was extinguished, the house was completely destroyed.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Additional reporting from Larry Celona and Joe Marino.
