A woman described by her daughter as the pillar of her family died in a fire that broke out on her floor in a Queens NYCHA building. NBC 4 New York’s Gaby Acevedo reports.
What to Know
- One woman died in a fire at a sprawling Queens high-rise early Thursday
- The fire on Beach 40th Street broke out around 8:15 a.m.; Chopper 4 showed a heavy emergency presence at the scene
- A cause of the blaze is under investigation; the dead woman's name has not been released
One woman died in a blaze that tore through the 10th floor of a 13-story apartment building in Queens early Thursday, fire officials said.
The fire on Beach 40th Street in Far Rockaway broke out around 8:15 a.m. Chopper 4 showed a heavy emergency presence outside the sprawling high-rise, which is a NYCHA building.
Mary Felton, 84, was killed in the fire. The grandmother of 22 was a pillar of her family said Kay Nwajei, the victim's daughter. Felton found a way to put her daughter through college despite limited financial means.
Nwajei said that her mother smoked cigarettes and, after speaking with FDNY and NYCHA inspectors, said she believes her mother "may have suffered a heart attack while smoking a cigarette," which could have sparked the fire.
A cause of the blaze is under investigation.
