A woman was seriously burned after flames exploded from a Queens home damaged by Sandy, causing a partial collapse, officials said.
The woman was hurt in the fire that was reported just before 2 p.m. Wednesday at the home on 84th Street in Howard Beach. Neighbors said a dog also escaped the home.
"I heard an explosion, I came out, my husband said, 'The house is on fire,'" said Angela Bruno.
John Dezago helped the woman out of the house.
"She had some damage, her hair was all singed, her face was all white and her hands," he said. "She was pretty burnt up in the legs."
The home, just blocks from Jamaica Bay in a neighborhood hit hard by Sandy, was listed as having had work done through the city's Rapid Repairs program, which helps homeowners fix storm damage.
The city said the work was done in January, and included a new furnace and rewiring of some electric systems that had been damaged by water.
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"They did the work so quick," said a neighbor who gave her name as Elaine and whose home was also part of the Rapid Repairs program. "You wonder about quality."
Fire marshals will determine the cause of the fire. The home is owned by the woman's husband, a retired NYPD cop, officials and neighbors said.
The Mayor's Office of Housing Recovery had no immediate comment.
--Shimon Prokupecz and Gus Rosendale contributed to this story
