An 86-year-old woman was killed in a Queens fire along with her son, who fearlessly rushed back inside the burning home in a desperate attempt to save his mother, according to witnesses and the FDNY.
The two-alarm blaze broke out in the basement of a house on 164th Street between 108th and 109th avenues in Jamaica around 6 p.m., catching the attention of passerby Gersham McGowan, who stopped and called 911.
But before placing the emergency call, McGowan said he spoke to the 61-year-old man outside the house, who told him he had to go back inside to rescue his elderly mom.
“He never came out, his mom never came out either and later on I saw they took two bodies from the house,” McGowan said.
Police and fire officials confirmed the two deaths.
“This is sad, man,” said McGowan. “This is sad because two lives just gone. That man was brave to go back inside to help his mom but he never make it.”
Another witness, Chantal Gbado, called the fatal fire “horrifying.”
“It was too much,” she said. “It’s hectic, it was hectic.”
More than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze, which quickly spread from the basement and up two floors into the attic before it was put out more than an hour later, the fire department said.
FDNY Deputy Chief George Healy said during a press briefing the two victims were found by firefighters on the second floor.
Healy noted that medical equipment was found in the home, which might have led to the mother’s inability to leave the home without help.
“On arrival we did have heavy fire,” he said.
The house was completely charred after the flames were extinguished.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Additional reporting from Larry Celona and Joe Marino.
