Brooklyn fire kills mother and two young daughters

A woman and her two little daughters died on Friday, April 28, when a flame engulfed their home in Brooklyn. Writes about it New York Post.

A 40-year-old mother and her daughters, aged 8 and 10, were found in a third-floor apartment on Gates Avenue off Tompkins Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, where a fire broke out in the family kitchen at 5 a.m.

“Firefighters literally crawled through the fire and got to the bedrooms to save them,” FDNY Fire Department Commander John Sarrocco said at the scene.

A shocked neighbor remarked, “I saw the firefighters trying to do their best even though they knew they weren’t going to make it. You could see the sadness on their faces."

Grieving residents showed drawings the girls had drawn with chalk on the sidewalk while they were playing on a fine day last week.

“The kids were playing hopscotch and the mother was sitting on the bench looking at them,” said neighbor Darlene Brown-Bezer. Everything that their mother did, she did for the sake of her children. She was very beautiful".

Firefighters responded within 3 minutes of being called, but it was too late, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.

“There was a lot of smoke and fire upon arrival at the scene of the fire, so although an investigation is underway, this may mean that the fire has been burning for a while,” Kavanagh said. “The conditions in which firefighters worked were very difficult.”

According to the head of the ambulance, Michael Fields, the mother and children received burns and inhaled smoke. Therefore, when the emergency services arrived, they were not breathing.

They were intubated and injected with hydroxocobalamin, a drug designed to treat the effects of a cyanide overdose, Fields said. Experts explained: when wood and other chemicals in the house burn, they release cyanide.

Despite life-saving efforts, all three were pronounced dead at Woodhull Medical Center.

The names of the victims have not been released until relatives are notified.

“I think the investigation will show how strong a mother's love is. What happened here is very unfortunate,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams, but did not specify what he meant, including whether the mother could have died trying to save her daughters.

Video from the scene shows an FDNY truck pulling out a ladder and a firefighter entering through a window as sirens wail and other fire trucks line the block.

Law enforcement sources said that the fire, which was localized around 05:45, does not arouse suspicion. Its cause will be revealed by the investigation.

“The two girls were very happy. She [mother] treated them with love and showered them with love. They knew they were loved,” Brown-Bezir assured.

According to a neighbor, the woman moved here less than a year ago.

“She didn't stay here long,” Brown-Bezer said. We said hello, laughed, joked. Children come to play and watch TV. I have an 85" TV and they used to watch Cinderella and various movies on my TV."

The deceased never went out alone and was always with her children, a neighbor recalls.

"I miss her. I feel very sorry for her,” she said.