Tragedy struck a Springfield Gardens family on Sunday morning after a fire broke out in their home and claimed an 8-year-old boy’s life and injured six others.
The Fire Department reported that a burning candle caused the one-alarm fire that ignited just before 2:30 a.m. on March 3 at a home on 160th Street near 140th Avenue.
Firefighters and members of the 113th Precinct responded to a 911 call about the blaze. Upon arriving at the home, police located 8-year-old Tighani Jones inside the home, unconscious and unresponsive.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and pronounced him dead.
According to the New York Daily News, two of Jones’ brothers were forced to jump out of a second-floor window to safety.
The Fire Department reported that the blaze was brought under control at about 3:30 a.m. Later that day, they tweeted that the cause appeared to be a burning candle. Additionally, the home had a smoke detector, but it wasn’t operational.
No criminality is suspected, police said, but the investigation is ongoing.
The FDNY urges everyone to have working smoke detectors near every bedroom of their home, and to make sure that they are in working order.
Be #FDNYSmart – have both a smoke alarm and a CO alarm (or a combination smoke/carbon monoxide alarm) installed where you sleep and on every level of your home, including basements. Learn more at https://t.co/NpwdRdlElY pic.twitter.com/qSwoyuWL5m
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 3, 2019
