A Queens man tried desperately to save a beloved family friend and housemate who became trapped in their burning home on Thursday, battling through the blaze with a garden hose, only to reach him after it was too late, he told the Daily News.
Harbhajan Singh was killed in the blaze that erupted in the two-family home on Lefferts Blvd. near 95th Ave. in Richmond Hill around 6:45 a.m. Thursday, Lakhwinder Singh said.
“He was dead by the time I got to him,” said Singh, 44. “He was dead already.”
Harbhajan lives with Lakhwinder and his family in the back of the Queens home, he said.
A man was found dead after a fire broke out inside a house on Lefferts Blvd. near 95th Ave. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Lakhwinder — who lovingly referred to Harbhajan as “uncle,” even though the two aren’t related by blood — was sleeping when he awoke to his wife’s screams.
“She said, ‘I’m smelling smoke,’” said Lakhwinder. “She said, ‘Go check on uncle in the back.’”
He rushed to Harbhajan’s room only to find smoke billowing out.
“I scream his name. I thought maybe he left to the temple, you know, maybe he left something on,” said Lakhwinder. “So I grabbed the garden hose and I tried to put out the fire.”
Lakhwinder said he was pouring water onto blaze when he finally spotted his friend.
“There was a lot of smoke. When the fire came down a little bit, I saw him laying down on the floor and and I screamed his name, like, ‘Uncle, are you okay? Are you?’” said Lakhwinder. “He was not responding.”
A man was found dead after a fire broke out inside a house on Lefferts Blvd. near 95th Ave. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Firefighters found the the victim’s badly burned body in the back of the house, according to FDNY.
“He was a fun guy,” Lakhwinder said. “I’m feeling really sad, and I’m shocked. It’s sad that he passed away.”
Harbhajan Singh was a former taxi driver who immigrated to the U.S. from India more than 20 years ago. He has a wife living in India and a son who lives in Texas.
“He was great,” said Sukhwant Singh Reel, 56, who worshipped at the Gurdwara Sikh Cultural Society with Harbhajan. “He was man of faith.”
The chairperson of Queens Community Board 9, Sherry Algredo, traveled to Lakhwinder’s home to offer her condolences for his housemate’s death.
“I met Mr. Singh, and he lost his uncle,” said Algredo.”Our condolences and prayers to the family, and you know we’re here.”
A man was found dead after a fire broke out inside a house on Lefferts Blvd. near 95th Ave. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Lakhwinder said Harbhajan was best known for his unique wardrobe filled with “shiny” clothes.
“He liked to wear nice clothes,” said Lakhwinder. “A lot of the community, they know him by his clothes, like how he dresses up.”
FDNY fire marshals were working to determine the cause of the fire.
Thursday’s blaze was the second fatal fire in the city within 24 hours, FDNY officials said.
At about 5 a.m. on Wednesday in the Bronx, a fire broke out on Third Ave. near E. 140th St. in Mott Haven.
More than 140 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics rushed to the blaze to find heavy flames shooting out of the El South Bronx Deli and the apartment above it.
While firefighters first believed the upstairs apartment was vacant, neighbors said someone was living there. Once the fire was put out, cops discovered two bodies in the apartment — one found under a pile of rubble of collapsed ceiling, FDNY officials said.