BY XANA O’NEILL, TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and BILL HUTCHINSON
Courtesy of the New York Daily News
Three members of a single family perished Sunday when a suspected arson fire ripped through their Queens apartment building, sending tenants engulfed in flames running to a downstairs deli for help.
Killed in the blaze were Heriberto Garcia-Vera, 68, who was found in his third-floor apartment, along with his wife, Flor Sandoval, 48, and son, Felipe Garcia, 20, law enforcement sources said.
“He was a nice kid,” Ahmed Abdul Al Matari, 21, said of Felipe Garcia. “The mom was nice, too.”
He said the family had just recently moved into the building in Middle Village from Richmond Hill.
“The store we can fix, but you can’t bring back the people who died,” said Ahmed Abdul Al Matari, staring in disbelief at the charred windows above his brother’s deli.
Five other people were seriously injured in the fast-moving blaze including some who had to run for their lives or jump from windows.
“Put me out! Put me out!” a man on fire screamed as he emerged from the inferno engulfed in flames and staggered into the deli.
“The fire was all over them,” Mohammed Al Matari said of two of the victims who came into his store on 69th St.
Even as the fire spread, Al Matari grabbed one-gallon jugs of Poland Spring water from a shelf and doused victims William Salazar and Agnes Bermudez.
“It’s not easy to see someone on fire. I did the best I could,” said the 45-year-old store owner, adding that he used six or seven containers of water to extinguish the burn victims.
The blaze started in a first-floor hallway and quickly ripped through three floors of the building. Fire officials suspect arson.
The blaze started in the first-floor hallway, cutting off the fastest and safest escape route.
Salazar, 31, and Bermudez, 47, were sleeping in a second-floor apartment when the blaze broke out, and they ran through burning hallways to get outside.
George Zygajewicz was inside Al Matari’s store buying breakfast when the couple ran in with their clothes blazing.
“It was a horrifying sight,” said Zygajewicz, 43, who had just finished working an overnight security shift. “Some things people shouldn’t have to see. They were on fire from their head down to their knees.”
Salazar lunged toward the deli’s freezer as the flames consumed him, Al Matari said.
Zygajewicz and the owner quickly led him out of the store and began emptying cold water onto him and Bermudez, of upstate Walden on the pavement outside.
After putting out the fire, Al Matari and Zygajewicz turned their attention to three people hanging precariously out of windows to escape the heavy smoke and heat.
Al Matari pleaded with the victims to wait for rescuers, but the two women and one man all jumped, landing on the pavement.
“[They] had no other choice – there was smoke and flames right behind,” said Bryan Onody, 47. “I had to turn away. … It was terrible.”
Bermudez was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx with burns over 50% of her body, relatives said. Salazar was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, also with burns over half his body. He was in critical condition.
“It’s pretty bad seeing your brother like that – his whole body is burned,” said David Salazar, 25.
David Salazar said his brother had hosted a small party in his second-floor apartment after a night out. Several people left in the early morning hours – but many stayed and slept over.
Sebastian Castro, 31, who was asleep when he woke up suddenly to the smell of smoke, said, “The air was really heavy.”
“Thanks be to God I woke up when I did,” he said, after being plucked from a window by firefighters. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought about jumping.”
With Oren Yaniv, Paul McNamara, Barry Paddock, Jotham Sederstrom, Wil Cruz, Veronika Belenkaya and Jenny Merkin
Check back at queenscourier.com for more details.
