By Christina Santucci
A 7-year-old boy was killed and a 13-year-old boy was injured in a New Year’s Day blaze in East Elmhurst, the NYPD said.
Emergency responders were called to a home on 90th Street near 31st Avenue at about 10 a.m. and found an unconscious and unresponsive Christopher Miller, who was pronounced dead in his house, police said.
An unidentified 13-year-old was brought to Weill-Cornell Medical Center in stable condition, according to cops.
Fire marshals were working to determine the cause of the blaze, and the city’s medical examiner was investigating the cause of Christopher’s death, police said.
Cecil Nichols, who lives up the block and across the street, said he was walking along 90th Street a little after 9 a.m. en route to buy his morning newspaper when he saw black smoke pouring from the attached brick house.
Nichols told another man to call the Fire Department, as two neighbors ran over to front door of the home and began banging to alert anyone inside.
“They were calling, ‘Wake up. Wake up,’” Nichols said. “Nobody responded and then the fire gushed out.”
Nichols said flames burst from the second-floor window, and soon after firefighters arrived to put out the blaze.
Nichols said he did not know Christopher or his family but believed they had not lived in the East Elmhurst apartment for very long.
Several hours after the fire on Wednesday afternoon, police had blocked off the street as fire marshals and the NYPD’s Crime Scene Unit performed their investigations.
Reach managing editor Christina Santucci by e-mail at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com by phone at 718-260-4589.
