FDNY Calls Queens Fire Suspicious; 2 Dead

A fire swept through an apartment that appeared not to have smoke detectors in a residential neighborhood of Queens on Wednesday, killing two people in the city's second fatal fire in two days.
    
Neighbors reported being awakened by a loud explosion just before the fire broke out on the second floor of a duplex in Oakland Gardens around 6:30 a.m.
    
"I heard a big bang, like a giant explosion," Tishara Riveras, 14, told the Daily News. "I thought it was a garbage can falling from the sky, but then I heard screaming, lots of screams."
    
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but Deputy Assistant Chief John Sudnik said the apartment did not appear to have smoke detectors.
    
Fire department spokesman Jim Long said the fire -- which was brought under control in less than an hour -- was considered suspicious and fire marshals were investigating the cause.
    
The victims' ages and their relationship were not immediately known. Their bodies were found in different parts of the apartment, Sudnik said.
    
Four firefighters suffered minor injuries.
    
On Tuesday, an extension cord was blamed for a blaze that tore through an apartment building in Manhattan's crowded Chinatown, killing two people and injuring at least 27. The blaze was so fierce it took 180 firefighters to bring it under control.