Thread: NYC Fire In Immigrant Housing Kills at Least 5

Jan 30, 1:48 PM EST

NYC fire in immigrant housing kills at least 5

NEW YORK (AP) -- Fire engulfed a building housing Guatemalan immigrants in Brooklyn on Saturday, collapsing part of the roof, trapping residents and killing at least five people, authorities said.

Four people in the building were injured, including an infant who was tossed out the window by a woman frantically trying to save them. The infant was in critical condition with a fractured skull after bystanders below failed to catch him, officials and witnesses said. The other child landed on an awning.

At least one adult was hospitalized, and thirteen firefighters were injured, none of them seriously, officials said. The cause of the fire in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst neighborhood, home to a diverse population of Russians, Hispanics and Chinese, was being investigated.

The fire started around 2:30 a.m. and soon engulfed the three-story building on a busy commercial strip, consuming a ground-floor Japanese restaurant and two apartments on the upper floors.

The stairwell between the floors collapsed, as well as part of the roof, trapping residents, according to fire officials. The blaze was under investigation. Most of the building's residents were from Guatemala, neighbor Juan Gabriel told The New York Times.

As the fire raged, a woman held a baby boy out a third-floor window. Bars covered the lower half of the window, keeping the woman from climbing out, Gabriel said.

"She was screaming, 'Help me, help me,' " Gabriel said. Moments later, she threw the infant out the window to Gabriel and two other men.

In the darkness, the child fell to the ground, authorities said. She then tossed another child out the window. He landed on the awning below.

It wasn't clear whether the woman survived the fire.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Not far from me. It's the neighborhood where John Travalta worked in the movie "Saturday Night Fever."

Most places that house immigrants especially illegal ones are not up to code and that is why they rent to them. This is sad but true. I went on calls with police and code enforcement while doing an internship and it was a real eye opener. We had one place where parts of the building were being condemned in Southwest Miami Dade County. It was where a farmer housed illegals. It had a blanket for one of the doors, parts if it had a dirt floor and I don't even think all of it if any had had running water. You saw toys in the front where you pulled up to it. The back part was falling apart as was another building. There was one person home who only spoke Spanish and came out using a walker and had a bandaged foot. I wondered how long before the dirt got through thr dressing. What I regret the most is that I did not take pictures myself.

This is horrible. I just wonder if the cause of the fire was lousy maintenance by the property owner who bribed building inspectors, or perhaps that the Guatemalans themselves by trying to heat their apartment with open fire.
(An elderly former building inspector in Chicago once told me that he made much more money from bribes to pass inspections than his salary. And he was a big waterfront property owner in FL)

Originally Posted by vortex

This is horrible. I just wonder if the cause of the fire was lousy maintenance by the property owner who bribed building inspectors, or perhaps that the Guatemalans themselves by trying to heat their apartment with open fire.
(An elderly former building inspector in Chicago once told me that he made much more money from bribes to pass inspections than his salary. And he was a big waterfront property owner in FL)

Bibery does not surprise me. I would guess it would probably be due to either lousy maintenance or they may have had the electricity shut off and used candles. If they had a gas stove they could have used it for heat. That happens alot in South Florida. You also have too many people living in many houses and apartments. That is also very common here.

I know that neighborhood and the only problems with the buildings there are 40 people living in a space designed for 8-10.

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

I know that neighborhood and the only problems with the buildings there are 40 people living in a space designed for 8-10.

Same in my neighborhood in NC. They cram 20 people in a 2bdrm home.

I have called the bylaw office in Miami Dade County a couple years ago as we had 4 adults and 2 kids living in a 2 bedroom condo. They once had an occupancy limit but I was informed they no longer do. Their reason was due to section 8 but I don't buy it. With section 8 housing it is usually a large number of kids not adults. I think it was changed because of illegals as many politicians own those homes where you have too many people living in them.

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

I know that neighborhood and the only problems with the buildings there are 40 people living in a space designed for 8-10.

BINGO! If code enforcers try to enforce overcrowding laws, the illegals and their advocates sue for racism. You'd think they'd think about safety first, no?

NEWSFLASH people: Illegal aliens don't care about safety codes, laws, playing by the rules, et al.

Their thinking goes like this: We're gonna cram as many as we can in this apartment/house/building and charge each person and make money (sometimes the tenants themselves do this, unknown to the landlord)!. Here is how it goes: "If they try to kick us out we'll scream racism and sue. If a disaster happens, we'll sue because it's not a safe building and we didn't know *sob*

They do not want to be held accountable for their own actions, it is always someone else's fault and it's been working!

These stories are frequent because most illegal aliens do not have electricity and opt to use candles as a source of light.

There was an incident in Chicago in 2008 where the illegal alien "mother" and her six anchors were using candles to have light in the apartment. The apartment caught fire and the "mother" and 5 of the children ran out and left the newborn baby to die.

She actually sued the owner of the building and it settled quickly for a couple of MILLION dollars.