Investigators sift through wreckage after fire that killed 5
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NEW YORK — Fire marshals sifted through charred wreckage and worked through the night to try to determine what sparked a fast-moving house fire that killed five people, including two boys and two teenage girls, but don’t believe the blaze spread from a car found burned out in the driveway, officials said Monday.
The Sunday afternoon blaze rapidly engulfed the wooden single-family home in Queens Village, a middle-class neighbourhood near Belmont Park, which hosts the Belmont Stakes, the final leg in horse racing’s Triple Crown.
A passing motorist called 911 to say someone had jumped from a window, and by the time firefighters arrived moments later, flames were chewing through the roof and roaring in upstairs windows. No working smoke detectors were found.
“The firefighters on the scene did all that they could and more to try to save these children,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. Firefighters raced into the burning building, making it up to the attic where some of the victims were trapped, but couldn’t reach them in time.
