ELMHURST, Queens (WABC) — Officials have recovered a second body from the scene of a deadly fire in Queens.
Investigators said the second victim is a newborn.
A 34-year-old woman was found dead in the basement, officials said.
The fire started on the first floor of the home on 83-34 Dongan Avenue in Elmhurst just before 7 p.m. Monday and quickly rose to the top of the home and spread to neighboring buildings on both sides.
“Today we brought back some heavy equipment, cleared the scene and this afternoon with the help of the heavy equipment and removing a lot of debris from the building, we did locate that missing child,” FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said.
Fire officials said at one point, one of the family members fell through a hole on the first floor, so they decided to pull everyone out.
They say that at that time, they did not know there were residents still trapped inside.
Officials said they were living in the cellar.
A 22-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries, including burns over nearly his entire body and five others suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Two firefighters also suffered minor injuries.
Over 200 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene.
Buildings Department records show in 2009 and again in 2022, a 311 complaint was filed for a suspected illegal basement unit conversion lacking proper egress in the event of a fire.
“We’ve had it in the past where firefighters have died because the apartments and houses have been divided up and access to egress and fire escapes have been blocked,” Esposito said.
The DOB says inspectors were sent both times and could not gain access.
As protocol, after multiple unsuccessful inspection attempts, the DOB closed out the complaints.
Inspectors cannot force their way into buildings.
Displaced residents wonder if the city could have done more.
“But we cannot say anything because this is not our business,” fire victim Vera Tjoe said.
“I obviously think like the city should really look into it more because, if the city did do its regulation on looking at the structure like this could’ve been prevented,” another fire victim Matthew Lee said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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