{"id":190856,"date":"2026-04-09T13:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/190856\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:12:30","slug":"nypd-man-charged-for-queens-fire-that-killed-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/190856\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD: Man Charged for Queens Fire that Killed Four"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man was arrested for sparking the Queens fire that claimed the lives of four people<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 including a 3-year-old girl \u2014 in an illegally subdivided apartment, cops said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Roman Amatitla, 38, was captured by\u00a0U.S.\u00a0marshals on Tuesday at his Queens home and charged with murder, assault, arson and petty larceny in the deadly fire that erupted on\u00a0March 16, according to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0NYPD\u00a0identified 50-year-old Chengri Cui and 3-year-old\u00a0Sihan Yang\u00a0as two of the four people killed in the\u00a0Flushing\u00a0fire. The identities of the remaining two victims, a 61-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man, are being withheld until their families are notified of their deaths.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s medical examiner\u00a0ruled the four deaths a homicide<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0March 27. The fire broke out around\u00a012:30 p.m.\u00a0in a third-floor apartment on\u00a0Avery Ave.\u00a0near\u00a0College Point Blvd.\u00a0\u2014 occupied by as many as a dozen squatters, officials said.<\/p>\n

Amatitla lives in\u00a0Maspeth\u00a0more than 3 miles from where the fire ignited, cops said.<\/p>\n

The owner of a nearby gas station heard what he described as an explosion and looked across the street to see people leaping from the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething blew up,\u201d\u00a0Wadud Mohammad, 59, told the\u00a0Daily News\u00a0shortly after the fire. \u201cThe whole roof was on fire. People were jumping from the building. Others were running across the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the men died at a local hospital, while the other three victims died at the scene.<\/p>\n

The official cause of the fire remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

A man who works near the scene said the building is poorly maintained and left unsecured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat building is chaos,\u201d said the 30-year-old worker, who would only identify himself as Eric. \u201cThe door is always open, like anyone can just walk in. No one was taking care of that house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Department of Buildings\u00a0records indicate an inspection of the\u00a0Avery Ave.\u00a0address in 2020 revealed the owner improperly converted the two-family building into a seven-family building \u201cby creating five additional single-room occupancies and nine additional bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspectors found the rooms \u201cwith key-locking devices, bed, TV, cooking equipment, refrigerators and food items in rooms,\u201d city records show.<\/p>\n

More than 230 firefighters and EMS members fought the fire and treated the injured. Five firefighters, including two who fell through a staircase, were hospitalized with minor injuries.<\/p>\n

Seven surviving residents \u2014 three women and four men, ranging in age from 33 to 67 \u2014 were treated for burns, smoke inhalation and other minor injuries.<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 New York Daily News. Visit\u00a0nydailynews.com<\/a>. Distributed by\u00a0Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n

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