By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A fire sparked by faulty wiring tore through a Queens apartment, killing a woman who was trapped on a fire escape desperately clutching her baby, FDNY officials said Tuesday.
Four others, including the 1-year-old boy, were hospitalized with minor injuries following the Friday night fire on Austin St. near Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills.
The fire broke out in a second-floor apartment in the three story building about 10:30 p.m. Friday. The Ugly Donuts & Corn Dogs eatery occupies the ground floor.
When firefighters arrived, they found several people trapped on the fire escapes screaming for help.
The woman and her baby were taken to an area hospital, where the woman died. Her name was not immediately released.
Another mother and child survived after being rescued by firefighters.
“I see her on fire escape. That fire was coming. The fire escape was too hot from the fire,” Preke Vulaj told WABC Eyewitness News about his 29-year-old daughter, who was trapped on the fire escape with her husband and 16-month-old son.
Firefighters saved Vulaj’s daughter and her family.
FDNY fire marshals on Monday said the fatal fire on Austin St. was accidental and sparked by faulty wiring. All of the smoke alarms were in working order, the marshals said.
“I went outside and I looked up and saw smoke,” said a tenant who declined to give her name. “So I went back inside and got my family. We went across the street. At first it was just black smoke, but two minutes later everything was engulfed in flames and the glass was shattering.”
“We were lucky the Fire Department is a couple of blocks from here, so they came fast,” she added. “But it took a good amount of time to put out. And I know one woman died.”
Another tenant who also declined to be named mourned the loss of a neighbor.
“It was just very sad. After, we finally met all our neighbors in a really bad situation, not knowing where we were gonna go for the whole night,” the resident said.
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