BROOKLYN, N.Y., March 21 (UPI) -- An early morning house fire that killed seven children, ages 5 to 15, was likely sparked by a malfunctioning hot plate, authorities said.
The blaze, the deadliest in New York City in eight years, started about 12:30 a.m. in the first-floor kitchen of the home in the predominantly Jewish Midwood neighborhood in Brooklyn. The flames trapped the children in their second-floor bedroom. Three girls, ages 8,12 and 15, and four boys, ages 5, 6, 7 and 11, died, police said. The mother, 45, and a 14-year-old sister escaped by jumping from windows and were critically injured.
Authorities said the hot plate, a food-warming appliance, was likely being used overnight because observant Jewish families are forbidden from lighting a flame on the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest.
"It's a tragedy for this family, it's a tragedy for this community, it's a tragedy for our city," Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said.
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Nigro said it took less than four minutes for firefighters to descend on the home. A total of 25 New York Fire Department units with more than 100 firefighters and other personnel responded to the scene.
"Firefighters forced their way in, extinguished fire on the first floor, which had started in the kitchen," he said, "then pushed upstairs and found the children in their bedrooms."
Firefighters grabbed the children, passing them to colleagues on ladders and a porch behind the house.
"They took them out every which way," said James Long, a fire department spokesman.
Investigators said they found a smoke detector in the basement, but not on the first or second floors. They are still searching through the debris.
Neighbors described the scene as frantic and chaotic as they heard children screaming from the home.
"I heard a child yelling, 'Mommy! Mommy, help me!'" neighbor Andrew Rosenblatt, 65, told the New York Daily News. "I looked out the back window, and I saw flames, smoke ... The smoke and the flames were horrendous."
