By Jeremy Walsh
The boy, identified by family members as Jason Guallpa, was found wedged between the wall and a television set in a bedroom adjacent to the source of the fire, officials said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“My son!” cried Jason's mother, who was not home at the time of the fire, in Spanish. “Where is my son? Where is my husband?”
She was whisked into an ambulance moments after arriving at the scene, before she could give her name.
The fire was reported at 10:21 a.m. in the 20-by-60-foot mixed-use building at 35-58 98th St., and soon swelled to two alarms, FDNY officials said. Its cause was still under investigation Thursday afternoon, but Assistant Chief John Acerno said it originated in the kitchen of the first-floor apartment where Jason lived.
Two people rescued from the second floor were taken to Elmhurst Hospital with moderate injuries including smoke inhalation and chest pains, FDNY officials said. Three firefighters were taken to New York Hospital Queens with minor injuries.
