A glance, then grim truth for brother of Bronx fire victim

2 years ago 361

NEW YORK – The antheral connected the gurney looked truthful familiar, but successful the commotion of a big-city exigency room, Yusupha Jawara rapidly turned his attraction backmost to different radical seeking aesculapian assistance astatine St. Barnabas Hospital.

After a deadly blaze broke retired astatine a Bronx flat building, Jawara, who lives nearby, rushed to the country and helped transport radical to the hospital. But arsenic Sunday wore on, his interest astir his household grew. His member Hagi did not reply the phone. Neither did his sister-in-law.

Then helium thought backmost to that little glimpse of the antheral whose hairsbreadth and partially masked look looked truthful overmuch similar his brother. It couldn’t be, helium thought. Surely, his member would person been harmless connected the 18th floor, acold from the occurrence that started 15 stories below.

“I was conscionable helping the EMS transport 1 idiosyncratic to the infirmary erstwhile I saw him — idiosyncratic akin similar him — connected a stretcher being brought to the ER,” Jawara said Tuesday arsenic his household began making ceremonial plans for their loved ones. “At that time, I didn’t person the absorption to cognize that it was him.”

Jawara’s member and sister-in-law, Isatou Jabbie, were among the 17 radical who died arsenic they tried to fly done the smoke-filled stairwell of the 19-story tower. The victims of the the city’s deadliest occurrence successful much than 3 decades included 8 children, 3 of them from 1 family. All of them died of fume inhalation, according to the aesculapian examiner.

Fire officials accidental a malfunctioning electrical abstraction heater started the blaze, which damaged lone a tiny portion of the building. But fume engulfed the analyzable aft tenants fleeing the portion wherever the flames began near the flat doorway unfastened down them successful their hurry to escape.

Spring-loaded hinges that were expected to unopen the doorway automatically did not work. A 2nd doorway besides near unfastened successful a stairwell higher up acted arsenic a flue, sucking fume upward.

A occurrence successful the mid-1980s successful the aforesaid flat gathering produced dense fume that roseate from level to floor, but everyone survived due to the fact that they knew to enactment successful their homes, occurrence officials said successful a grooming publication.

In the 1986 fire, fume from burning garbage traveled done a trash compactor shaft and dispersed crossed the building, but it did not nutrient the deadly results of the caller occurrence due to the fact that residents mostly stayed enactment until the occurrence was out, according to a occurrence authoritative who wrote astir the blaze successful the grooming work called With New York Firefighters, oregon WNYF.

People who did effort to fly were caller to the gathering and unfamiliar with high-rise information procedures, the authoritative wrote. One pistillate tried escaping down a stairwell with her 6-month aged baby, past got confused arsenic she retreated backmost toward her flat and was recovered sitting connected a hallway floor, clutching her child, the work said.

At the clip of the 1986 blaze, the occurrence authoritative wrote, automatic occurrence sprinklers successful the trash compactor shaft and compactor country had been turned off. A self-closing doorway to the compactor closet connected 1 level had been wedged unfastened and the doorway to a stairway connected different level had been near unfastened to summation aerial flow.

The “combined effect of bypassing these information devices contributed to the severity of the consequent fire,” Deputy Chief James Murtagh wrote successful the publication.

The lawman main blamed “ignorance, carelessness oregon deficiency of understanding, with disastrous results.”

At the time, according to the publication, each flat was equipped with fire-protected, self-closing doors and a fume detector.

Sunday's blaze originated successful a third-floor apartment, sparked by a faulty abstraction heater that is present the taxable of an probe by national information regulators astatine the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the apartment’s beforehand doorway and a doorway connected the 15th level should person been self-closing and blunted the dispersed of smoke, but the doors stayed afloat open. It was not wide if the doors failed mechanically oregon if they had been manually disabled.

The deaths implicit the play dispersed anguish done a mostly migrant assemblage successful the Bronx.

Authorities connected Tuesday released the names of 14 victims, including 7 children ranging from 5 to 12 years old. The oldest fatality was a 50-year-old woman, who shared the aforesaid past sanction with 3 different people.

The aesculapian examiner's bureau has begun releasing immoderate of the dormant to ceremonial homes.

At slightest a twelve of those who perished worshipped astatine the Masjid-Ur-Rahmah mosque, wherever imam Musa Kabba has been helping the assemblage grieve.

“Things person been precise slow, but we person to beryllium patient,” the imam said.

Jawara's member fled to the United States successful the 1990s arsenic a exile during the civilian warfare successful his homeland of Sierra Leone. He aboriginal joined a Gambian woman, whose household had settled successful the Bronx.

“Their neighbors connected the higher floors ne'er came retired and they were safe, truthful I thought that possibly my member besides was harmless successful the apartment,” helium said.

But erstwhile a cellphone belonging to his sister-in-law was recovered connected the street, helium knew thing was amiss.

Among the dormant was the five-member Dukureh household — Haja Dukureh and Haji Dukureh, primitively from Gambia, and their 3 children.

“This is simply a precise close-knit community. We are predominantly from 1 municipality successful the Gambia called Alunghare, truthful we are each family," said Haji Dukureh, the uncle of Haja Dukureh, whose hubby had the aforesaid name. The surviving uncle drove to the Bronx from his location successful Delaware connected Monday. “Most of the radical here, we are each related successful 1 mode oregon the other.”

Because galore radical successful the gathering were besides members of the aforesaid congregation, "it’s similar 1 large family.”

“We conscionable privation to person the deceased and spot them successful their last resting place,” Dukureh said.

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Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz and quality researcher Rhonda Shafner successful New York City and Michael Hill successful Albany, New York, contributed to this report.

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