In what most would consider an early Christmas miracle, 70-year-old Nina Durham saved four children from a blaze that gutted her Springfield Gardens home but regrettably, her nephew and a friend were killed.
“When I came out of the bathroom, I saw flames coming out of the vent,” Durham told The Queens Courier. “I went to the kitchen to pour water down the vent, but I couldn't find a pail.”
That's when, according to Durham, she went to rouse the other people in the two-family home, including her three grandchildren and a friend's child, ranging in age from 11 to 19.
“I tried not to panic and just started waking people up to tell them to get out,” said Durham. “I knew my nephew [John McDuffy] was sleeping in the basement. I thought he had made it out a side door.”
McDuffy, 59, and a friend, Lisa Grisom, 40, did not make it out of the home, which was completely destroyed.
According to reports, it took more than 100 firefighters to get the two-alarm blaze under control.
As for Durham, who attributes her heroic efforts to God, the Red Cross has arranged for her to stay in a local hotel for a few days. “From there, I don't know where I am going,” she said.
Officials are deeming the fire suspicious. An investigation is underway.
Fire Kills Two, Grandma Saves Four
By Toni Cimino
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