By James DeWeese
Alex Sandoval, 30, father of the three girls who range in age from 3 to 7, died Dec. 28 at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, where family members said his daughters remain hospitalized. A spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office said Sandoval, an industrious Salvadoran immigrant remembered for his sense of humor and dedication to his family, died of complications from smoke inhalation and the severe burns he suffered during the Dec. 15 fire that also killed his common-law wife.Sandoval was originally receiving treatment for the burns that covered 70 percent of his body at Jacobi Medical Center but was transferred days before he died, a spokesman said.”My brother was very happy with his wife and children,” said Oscar Sandoval, Sandoval's twin who came from Reading, Pa. to attend his brother's Corona wake Monday evening. “That was his obsession – his girls and his wife.”Sandoval's 36-year-old wife, Flor de Maria Pineda, died outside her third-floor apartment trying to rescue her daughters and neighbors from the fire that officials said was started by an unattended candle in an apartment below the family's third-floor home on 89th Street.The couple's girls, Naomi Siguencia, 7, Alexandra Sandoval, 4, and Carolina Sandoval, 3, were all severely burned in the fire. Naomi was burned over 50 percent of her body. Alexandra and Carolina suffered burns over 35 percent of their bodies, the family said.”The situation is critical,” Oscar Sandoval said of Naomi and Carolina, who were injured the most seriously. Carolina's right cornea was burned during the fire and she will likely go blind, her family said earlier. Alexandra was apparently improving, Oscar Sandoval said.But as they struggle to piece together their shattered lives, they will do so without the mother who quit her job at a local Dunkin Donuts years ago to dedicate herself to her daughters full time. They will also be without the father who worked hard for years at several Roosevelt Avenue restaurants to provide for his family.”That's why they have uncles,” said Oscar Sandoval, who said the girls could live with him. Reina Gomez, Pineda's older sister, also has offered to take care of the couple's daughters, said her husband, Sigfrido Gomez.Friends and family from all over the five boroughs and beyond poured into the Rivera Funeral Home on 37th Avenue at 104th Street in Corona Monday for Sandoval's wake, which was attended by state Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights).”He was a very funny person. He used to laugh about everything,” said Fernando Franco, 23, who worked with Sandoval at Pollos Mario on Roosevelt Avenue and counted the father of three among his friends. “He was always with his family. He used to take his three girls to the restaurant just to show his partners how nice his family was.”The occupants of the second-floor apartment where the fire started left the door open when they fled, which allowed the fire to spread into the hallway and up a stairwell, engulfing several apartments, authorities said. They did not call 911, fire officials said. Rescue efforts were delayed by about a minute when a frantic neighbor gave the wrong address to emergency dispatchers. The Fire Department's response time, however, was within the average, city officials said.Reach reporter James DeWeese by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
