Astoria fire kills one

A fast-spreading fire killed an elderly woman in Astoria, who neighbors said packed her single-family home with mementoes from her dead husband and son. Fire officials believe that the cause of the accidental fire on Wednesday, May 30 was a cigarette.
At about 10:30 a.m., about 60 firefighters responded to the two-story home on 43rd Street off Ditmars Boulevard, smashed all the windows on the first floor and broke through the door. However, 78-year-old Stephanie Pronchick, the sole resident, died of smoke inhalation, fire officials said.
Rachel Shane, 22, a worker from a nearby pet store, even tried to break into the home when she spotted grey smoke billowing from the house. Shane could not get in through the front door because the doorknob was too hot, so she smashed Pronchick’s front window with her hands. Then she called inside the home but did not get an answer from the elderly woman, whom Shane often helped with errands.
“I just saw her yesterday,” Shane said a few hours after the fire. “I don’t think it’s a brave thing. Anyone else would have done it around here.”
Although Pronchick was friendly with several local residents, neighbors said that she often kept to herself inside of the house, where she has lived for about 25 years. In addition, she used a walker and her car was stolen two weeks ago, so her mobility was limited.
“She had a very hard life,” said friend and neighbor 81-year-old Ethel Tkach.
Pronchick talked about her husband, who died 30 years ago, and her son, who was killed when he fell down a subway stairwell a decade ago, as if they died recently, Tkach said.
After her son’s death, Pronchick stuffed her home with baby clothes, photos, and memorabilia, including nine of her son’s baseball bats.
Because of the cramped conditions and Pronchick’s disability, next-door neighbors Paul Read, 43, and Christine Barretta 45, called the Department for the Aging to get their neighbor some assistance.
“She just didn’t want any help, [she was] too proud,” Tkach said.
Read said that he and his wife were also worried that Pronchick chain-smoked in her home.
“The conditions were unlivable,” Read said.