Fire investigators are still digging through the burned and soaked building that caught fire Monday afternoon, looking into the cause.

“I asked what happened,” said Jessica Wee, who works at a store several doors down from the building. “He said fire. Then I said, ‘Oh my God.‘ Then I come out, I see so many smoke. The smoke, a lot. A lot.”

What You Need To Know

A Queens building that was the site of a fire that killed four people had several complaints and violations logged against it, according to the Department of Buildings

Firefighters said when they arrived at the corner of College Point Boulevard and Avery Avenue, all three floors of the building were ablaze

FDNY officials said a 3-year-old girl was among the three people who jumped from the top floor to escape the fire and died

The most recent violation against the building is from January, for failure to maintain the building and interior extension cords throughout the hallway from the first to the third floors, according to the DOB

Firefighters said when they arrived at the corner of College Point Boulevard and Avery Avenue, all three floors were ablaze. The structure has five apartments on the second and third floors and a business on the first, according to the FDNY.

FDNY officials said a 3-year-old girl was among the three people who jumped from the top floor to escape the fire and died. Another man died on the way to the hospital, according to fire officials.

Aside from the child, the other deceased victims included a 62-year-old woman and two men, aged 51 and 61, according to the FDNY.

“Yeah, my friend, four people living inside,” said a woman who identified herself as Dede when asked if she knew any of the fire victims. She described a crowded living situation.

“Sleeping in the living room. The rooms, too small. The kitchen; too small. So many people,” she said. “Too many people.”

“In this kind of case, you don’t know who is living there,” said one man who asked not to be identified. The man said he’s been complaining to the city about the building for years, even going to housing court for what he describes as illicit activities happening inside.

“It happens almost every year and they won’t do anything,” he said.

The Department of Buildings website logs several complaints dating back years about too many people living inside the building and inspections. The most recent violation against the building is from January, for failure to maintain the building and interior extension cords throughout the hallway from the first to the third floors.

During the rescue operation, firefighters said the stairs from the first to the second floor collapsed, causing two of them to fall through them. Other firefighters quickly rescued them, according to the FDNY.

EMS officials said aside from the four fatalities, 12 other people were injured — two of them critically.

“It’s very sad,” Wee said. “I hear they I so sad. You know.”

“It happens, it happens,” said neighbor Carol Tseng. “That’s what happened. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

The injured include six firefighters, who are all expected to be O.K. About 230 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the fire, according to the FDNY.

Fire officials said that 40-mile-per-hour winds made a difficult situation worse. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a statement Monday, thanking the FDNY and EMS workers who assisted in the rescue operations.