One person was killed and nine others were injured in a house fire in Elmhurst, Queens, on Monday night.
FDNY officials it was just before 7 p.m. when the 911 call came in. Responding firefighters were forced to battle the blaze at a home on Dongan Avenue near Broadway in the bitter cold.
Firefighters worked feverishly to stop the flames from spreading and the search for possible people inside, specifically in the basement, where there was three to four feet of water, lasted hours, officials said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“The whole thing was going up so fast”
For many, the scene was a terrifying sight.
“The whole thing was going up so fast. It was terrible,” one person said. “The flames really coming out. I knew it was bad, really bad. One of the cars was on fire in front.”
“I run to the door, and then there’s smoke at the end of the block with, like, flames coming out of it,” Caitlin Clarke said. “My sister is dashing out. My mom is dashing out.”
“They lost their everything”
As many watched in disbelief, embers exploded into the night sky.
“My mother, she told me it was from the basement. So she saw the smoke coming and she screamed,” said Subash Gurung, who lives next door with his family. “[It was a] very cold night. It was terrible. And my apartment is filled with smoke. I didn’t have nowhere to go. I’m relying on my friend tonight.”
Rachel Ji said her heart was breaking as she described those who lived inside the home.
“Like, I saw the lady, that house. She was crying so hard,” Ji said. “I feel so bad for the [victims], like, because I don’t know where you can go to. They lost their everything.”