By Bill Parry
Two young brothers were killed in a fire that broke out on the first floor of a two-story frame house on Tioga Drive near 188th Street in St. Albans Monday evening.
The FDNY received the call at 7:08 p.m. and when firefighters arrived, they found the home engulfed in flames. A total of 12 units responded and brought the fire under control at 7:54 with 65 firefighters on the scene. Two brothers, ages 6 and 11, were discovered on the second floor and were taken to Queens Hospital Center where they were pronounced DOA.
During the blaze, Orlanzo Saunders, 33, a tenant in the building, dove out an attic window, landing on the porch roof before rolling on to the ground. He injured a leg and his wrist, according to a neighbor who did not want to be identified.
Emily Knowles, a next door neighbor, said, “That fire was something you can’t really explain. There are just no words to describe it. The house was completely engulfed in flames.”
Knowles added that she never spoke with her neighbors beyond pleasantries on the way to and from work. Another neighbor from across the street said, “I’d see the family and say hello from time to time, but that’s about it. I didn’t know them.
Inspectors from the Department of Buildings were on the scene Tuesday morning, and the FDNY says the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
