Raging Brooklyn fire kills mom and her disabled daughter

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The blaze, sparked by an electrical heater, raced quickly through the four-story Belmont Ave. building around 1:30 a.m., with both victims pronounced dead at Brookdale University Hospital.(DANNY IUDICI/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

A fire inside a storefront bodega killed a Brooklyn mom and her disabled daughter in their upstairs apartment Wednesday as neighbors ran for their lives through smoke and flames.

The blaze, sparked by an electrical heater, raced quickly through the four-story Belmont Ave. building around 1:30 a.m., with both victims pronounced dead at Brookdale University Hospital.

More than 70 other residents survived, many in dramatic fashion, as they shimmied down a crowded fire escape in the darkness or fought blindly through a smoke-choked staircase.

“In my mind, I had only one option — I had to save my family,” said Mohammed Nawaz, a third-floor neighbor of the two victims. “Everybody was waiting, screaming to get out of the building.”

Nawaz carried his two toddlers down the fire escape to safety, working through a crowd of terrified Cypress Hill neighbors clamoring to reach the sidewalk.

Another dozen children were ferried to safety through the lethal flames and billowing smoke.

“There were little kids being carried by their parents,” said resident Naznun Nahar, 36, describing the wild rush for survival. “I saw one of my neighbors jump from the second floor.”

More than 70 other residents survived, many in dramatic fashion, as they shimmied down a crowded fire escape in the darkness or fought blindly through a smoke-choked staircase. (DANNY IUDICI/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

The dead women were found inside their apartment, and a friend of the family recalled how the mom took special care of her daughter, who suffered from physical and mental issues.

Neighbors were shocked by the deaths of the mother and daughter. The mom, neighbors said, was in her 60s. The daughter was in her 40s.“Everyone will tell you that they were a wonderful family,” said Luz Pacheco, 50, a friend of the two victims. “They were (a) beautiful, very charming, quiet family. They were sweethearts.”

“She was a very nice, friendly person,” second-floor tenant Juana Jacobs said of the daughter. “I feel like if I was able to rush up to the third floor she would still be alive."

Jacobs, 35, kept the death toll from climbing by running along the first- and second-floor hallways, pounding on the doors while screaming “Fire! Fire! Fire!”

She had already made it outside with her husband and two kids but bolted back inside when she couldn’t find any of her neighbors outside the building.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro noted the fire began in an unattended heater, with the situation complicated by the non-functioning alarms. (DANNY IUDICI/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro noted the fire began in an unattended heater, with the situation complicated by the non-functioning alarms.

Firefighters were on the scene within three minutes, but they couldn’t save the doomed pair.

“It’s a sad story to tell,” said Nigro. “Once again, carelessness ... and a lack of a working smoke alarm cost two people their lives.”

But Lisa Luna, an employee at the D’Bonao Grocery, said everything was fine when she locked up the downstairs store about two hours before the fire started.

“Everything was perfect,” said Luna, 39. “Nothing was plugged in. I disconnected everything. This is a shock.”

The Red Cross was providing emergency housing, money and supplies for 47 adults and 25 children displaced by the blaze. Caseworkers were meeting with families to arrange longer-term housing and offer emotional support.