A desperate grandmother tried to save her 1-year-old grandson died in an attic fire in an illegally subdivided Queens house, officials said Monday.
The blaze broke out in the two-story house on 106th Ave. near 142nd St. in Jamaica about 10:50 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.
“I went up to grab the baby but there was too much smoke,” said Joyann Kelly, the victim’s grandmother said through tears. “It was too much.”
Medics rushed little Jason Eli to Cohen Children’s Medical Center but he could not be saved.
The blaze was brought under control at 11:52 p.m. The cause of the fire is not yet clear but investigators do not believe it was intentionally set.
After the fire was extinguished, the city Department of Buildings issued a vacate order because the house was illegally subdivided into single-room occupancy dwellings. The baby’s family was living in the home’s attic.
Kelly’s daughter managed to save Kelly’s other grandson.
“She ran up and grabbed this one,” Kelly said, pointing to her grandson who survived the fire. “She ran in back to grab the younger one. I don’t know what started the fire. She lost the baby. She tried to come up for the baby. The baby was in the crib.”
Kelly said her family had spent Sunday celebrating Mother’s Day.
“In the back, having some barbecue,” she told the Us.Mistertruth.
Just over three hours later, a fire erupted in a three-story house on E. 92nd St. near Clarkson Ave in East Flatbush.
The 2 a.m. blaze may have been sparked by a grill, officials said.
A 67-year-old woman and 8-year-old girl related to her were overcome by smoke. Medics rushed them to Kings County Hospital, where the woman died. The girl is in stable condition.
Sixty firefighters responded and brought the blaze under control at 2:37 a.m.
Police said it appears that fire was caused by a grill or barbecue.
“I used to live here in the neighborhood. I know the family,” said a former neighbor. “I heard about the tragedy with grandma. We call her grandma. She’s great. She’s a very great lady. She always says, ‘hello.’ She’s a part of the community. She’s an elder. Everybody loves her here. We feel very bad about it. It’s a big tragedy.”
Firefighters have been busy in recent days. Last week, eight people were killed in three separate fires.
Early last Tuesday, Mufeed Al Haddad, 37, was inside his East New York home using an accelerant to make vape dispensers he could sell when he accidentally sparked a fire that killed his wife Amal Haddad, 36, and their daughter Dawlah, 10, officials said.
Another daughter, Rawan, 18, later died at Brookdale University Hospital. Two other children, Rana, 14, and her brother, Ismael, 9, were badly hurt and the family patriarch, who escaped with burns on his hands, is now under investigation.
That same morning, a 70-year-old woman was killed in a Bronx fire on Grant Ave. in Concourse Village. The victim’s husband said he believes burning incense sparked the fire.
Two days earlier, a fire caused by an e-scooter battery ripped through an Inwood apartment on W. 190th St.
Family matriarch Bertha Domenech Santiago, 94, and her disabled nephew, Luis Dominech, died from their injuries.
Two others, Santiago’s home health aide and a male tenant of the building, were reported Thursday to have also died. Their names have not yet been released.