Bronx- Multi-Fatal 3rd Alarm 3/8

[Bababoosky 24]

9 Killed in Bronx House Fire

By JENNIFER PELTZ

Associated Press Writer

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AP Photo/Jason DeCrow

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8 Children Killed in NYC Apartment Fire

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Eyewitness Edward Soto says he and another man ran up to the burning building and a woman threw children out the window to them. COURTESY: W-A-B-C T-V

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Eight children and an adult died and several others were injured in a house fire that authorities are calling one of New York's deadliest blazes in recent memory.

Witnesses described a ghastly sight of a woman hurling children through broken windows in hopes of saving the kids from Wednesday night's inferno.

"All I see is just a big cloud of white dust and out of nowhere comes the first baby," said Edward Soto, who managed to catch two of the children thrown from the window.

All the while, screams of "help me, help me" spread through the three-story home, said Soto, who helped rescue the children with neighbor David Todd, 40.

Fire Department spokesman Seth Andrews confirmed the death toll early Thursday. The cause of the fire had not been determined.

At least 10 people were hurt, five of them seriously injured. Four firefighters and one other emergency worker were hospitalized with minor injuries.

Michael Heller, spokesman at Jacobi Medical Center, said five children ranging in age from 2 to 6 were taken to the Bronx hospital. They are suffering smoke inhalation and burns, and three are in critical condition.

One of the victims - an infant less than a year old - died at Jacobi, Heller said.

Fatoumata Madassa, a relative of some of the residents, said four families lived in the brick building. She said they were largely immigrants from Mali, and that the four families have 17 children.

Madassa, who lives across the street, said she saw the fire, and her husband quickly ran to the blaze but there was too much smoke for him to help.

The fire was reported shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. It burned in the basement and first floor, Andrews said.

The neighborhood is in the south Bronx, not far from Yankee Stadium.

Neighbors said at least one of the families ran an import-export business, and a public records search lists African American Import Export at the address.

All the injured people were taken to local hospitals, Andrews said. At least two were taken to a burn unit for further treatment.

Firefighters had the blaze under control shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday, he said.

[Guest]

thoughts and prayers with the victims their families and of course the brothers who did a great job under awful conditions, 10-45s are never easy

[Guest]

Per the Associated Press:

• Nine dead in Bronx fire, including eight children

• Mayor: Extended family of 22 from African nation of Mali lived in home

• Space heater, power strip suspected; smoke detectors had no batteries

• Woman threw children from window in effort to save them

www.cnn.com

Per WCBS NewsRadio:

- 8 Children among the deceased

Photos credit of Tom Kaminski from WCBS News Chopper

Edited March 8, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[Guest]

What ya'll's thought on this heartless sick video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-oW9Zm_N8Y

OMG I'm about to throw up

[sr71 1]

uno that is the most distrubing thing. i hope someone reports this to youtube and get that off the air. jesus christ it was a fatal fire and the ones who didnt make it should be respected and given dignity that they should get

[Guest partyrock]

I think its a graphic video documenting a very tragic and horrific incident. It shows some very excellent operations. With one exception people are not running around in a state of panic and things are progressing appropriately with critical pt's placed into the care of medics and taken to a waiting bus. The video shows a few things that need to be critiqued, but it looks like what it was. A very well run incident where everyone stepped up and brought their A game. Its also very intertesting seeing the stress at these incidents. The tact PD has to have with family, the strain it puts on rescuers, and the loss the families are experiancing is very powerful stuff.

Edited March 9, 2007 by partyrock

[CPAGE 2]

I think that the POS that shot the video should get his A$$ kicked or maybe someone should have knocked his camera out of his hand as they went by to help.

God bless the family and friend and the victims....and the brothers.

Chris

[helicopper 1,050]

I think its a graphic video documenting a very tragic and horrific incident.  It shows some very excellent operations.  With one exception people are not running around in a state of panic and things are progressing appropriately with critical pt's placed into the care of medics and taken to a waiting bus.  The video shows a few things that need to be critiqued, but it looks like what it was.  A very well run incident where everyone stepped up and brought their A game.  Its also very intertesting seeing the stress at these incidents.  The tact PD has to have with family, the strain it puts on rescuers, and the loss the families are experiancing is very powerful stuff.

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I'm with you Party. I don't know that I would have shot it but if he was where he was legally allowed to be he just made a compelling video to illustrate why fire safety is so important.

Smoke alarms with no batteries, space heater plugged into an extension cord, etc.

Condolences to the families and I hope our brothers (FD, PD, and EMS) get all the support they need to deal with a nightmarish scene.

[hudson144 150]

compassion is the word that is missing here, a tragic incident that really needed to be filmed? come on guys use your heads. 20 + yrs ago when i was living in louisiana i was working for an ambulance co who was dispatched to a train vs car accident, 3 teenage girls were struck by a train and were critically injured, as we all tried to save their lives a camera man from a local news station kept getting in the way of both fire and ems. a city of shreveport La captain told the camera man in a few words to take a walk. not listening to the capt and still rolling his camera the captain warned him one more time and then took the camera from the guy and threw is across the street and then knocked the guy on his a**! use your heads out there!

[16fire5 693]

Come on dude there's a difference between what's legal and what's right and this may have been legal but it definitely wasn't right. Hats off to my brothers for a professional job under the toughest circumstances. I was truly impressed by the restraint and compassion of the cops I definitely don't give you guys enough credit where it's due.

[Guest]

The video is appropriate.

It shows the horror of the job, and the compassion, professionalism, and overwhelming humanity the responders displayed that night.

It also gives the public a far better view into how a scene is run than the evening news cameras.

It's about time John Q. Public really saw what we do for a living. If you don't like the video, censor it yourself... click "stop".

My hat is off to the FDNY, FDNY EMS, and NYPD for an outstanding job on an unbelievable tragedy.

[e92l44 0]

Don't really have an opinion other than to say if you don't like it, don't watch it....I did.

HOWEVER, there is nothing shown in the video that wasn't shown on every news channel in New York City over the past 24 hours.

I watched every coverage as I am very familiar with the area and every channel showed the kids being carried lifeless to ambulances, stretcher being wheeled with the kids on them, CPR in progress, etc.

I have been one of those guys who yells, "get back, outta the way" etc.

At the time you want to kill them, but I guess they are doing their job, although we hate it when they are following us while we are doing the CPR, etc..................but we do watch the videos......

[hudson144 150]

no doubt that they all did a great job, i have no problem myself viewin it. as far as john q public- they don't care what we do and if we don't all realize that by now we all still believe in santa! sometimes things aren't needed to be displayed the way that was . yes we can all learn by it and i am sure that we will all see this over n over. maybe i am wrong, i'm new to this firefighting stuff!!! i think the thing that bothers me the most is are the guys who do get in the way because they want a good shot. they do get in the way too often and thats part of my point. be safe----

Edited March 9, 2007 by hudson144

[Guest partyrock]

I don't mean to pick on you hudson, but I guess am. Its my experiance that most of cameramen will clear out when told to and do their best to stay out of our way. If for no other reason than if we run them over they can't get the shot.

The public does care. Their memory is incredibly fickle and short term but they do care about the last story they heard about us. Every where I go I have people comming up saying they appreciate what we do after all the media coverage from this tragedy. It happens every time and it will soon fade just like it has every other time. Now if we can just keep the crap press away we'll be good.

[hudson144 150]

no problem party, i'm always being picked on usually about my height!, anyway-from my experience where i work the average joe blow doesn't care about us. yes- they care about you after they used your services, the incident in the bronx is a real eye opener for all. people do learn from tragic incidents and even today they were handing out smoke detectors/batterys etc. 911 gave the fire service some pr but how long did that last? remember we are the step child here. this is all my thoughts so you can pick on me and i won't hold it against you. tomorrow night we change the clocks,how many people do you think will change the batterys in their detectors? some don't even change their clocks. fire prevention is important but sometimes i wonder if we do enough?

Edited March 10, 2007 by hudson144

[Oswegowind 17]

I think everyone needs to put this in perspective. Most of us were in some way involved in the events of 9/11. That was broadcast internationally live! That was a huge tragedy. You were able to see persons jumping from the buildings, and eventually the buildings collapsed onto all of those emergency personnel that we worked with in some way. It is horrible, but it is a part of life and we have all coped in some way with what has occurred. This was a tragedy just the same, one that could have possibly been prevented, but to call this person heartless because the shot the video is wrong. In this day and age everything is documented whether it be in still images or in video. These tools can help us learn from our mistakes in the future and also give perspective to those who were not at the scene as to what really happenned. When I arrived at ground zero there were cameras everywhere, I had mine and did not shoot a thing, now I think back and I missed an oppurtunity to document something in my life that I can only explain in words to my children and hopefully to their children. There are many reasons that this video is important even if only one family goes and checks their smoke detectors tonight!

[Guest]

Although this video, i feel, is unethical, i believe that the camera man has the right to shoot. I do think that the people who perished in the fire should have been given more respect. It almost makes me feel that the camera man is heartless to be able to shoot young children dead or dying...i know personally that would really cut me pretty deep.

[mlfcemt093 0]

Aren't we all a little heartless in 1 way or another? I trully believe we are, because if we were not we would crumble on every CPR job and ever job where the elderly are neglected it's how we as emergency services (PD, FIRE, EMS) survive. Unfourtunally it really is part of the job death, destruction etc.

[nycemt728 49]

I am surprised by a few of the responses. Does the video show the pd, fire and ems response? Yes it does. Does it go over the top? ABSELUTELY! Yes, he had the right to be there and to shoot, but have some human decency! I understand the need for prevention, but that education can be done w/o the shock value associated showing dead and near dead bodies. As responders, we don't need to see that stuff on the net or tv, we get enough every day. I'll break it down three ways:

1. There's news and then theres invading peoples privacy during the worst times of their lives. This video didn't highligt our response, it focused on bodies and zoomed in to see faces on stretchers and in ambulances and MERVS. There is no need for that; a simple pan of the scene and a listing of the dead would shoe the devastation.

2. As an EMT, I know that if I or my family were ever in a situation like this, I would be horrified and angry if someone callously showed such detail and then posted it to see for all eternity on the web!!! Would any of us really want that for our families????

3. This is the age of technology, where kids younger and younger have cells and comps etc...theres a good chance that some of these kids classmates have seen or will see one day their friends dying...there is no need for that and that is shameful.

I agree our job is tough and yes we all develop a tought exterior, but we're all human and some people (cameraman) need to think about more that just themselves.

[Guest]

Bronx fire toll hits 10 as girl, 7, dies

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070310/ap_on_re_us/bronx_fire

[ENG47INE 17]

What ya'll's thought on this heartless sick video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-oW9Zm_N8Y

OMG I'm about to throw up

←

These guys are seriously screwed up.

[Guest partyrock]

You cannot call this camera man heartless. When looking through the lense professionals do not see the child being worked up, they see their target. They see composition, obstructions, etc. A friend of mine from college has made a career as a photo journalist covering Iraq, Israel, Darfur, among other international hotspots. He got his start chasing sirens in Chicago and NYC. He has seen it all and is a far more compassionate and carring man than myself. Yet he is able to calmly and cooly shoot some horrific tragedies because it is his job and he is a professional. To say the actual images he shot are an issue is nuts. Was the images of the burning girl covered in Napalm, the burning monks, or the road side execution from Vietnam? How about the ff holding a dead baby after the Oklahoma City bombing? The dead bodies from the Kent shooting? These are just a few of the images that litter the pages or mass media publications everyday. These have been chosen as being outstanding images that are to be respected and emulated. Is it because its on youtube that this is so inappropriate?

I am lucky enough to have a video of the accident that took my cousins life. It covers from shortly after PD's arrival to transport and that video did alot to help me and my family heal. It answered alot of those what if questions and was very reasuring. I know I'm not the average citizen, but it helped everyone. I found the video on a newsite link to youtube.

[Guest]

A good portion of some of this video was shown on local news networks in the days after the fire. It reminds me a lot of a book about NYCs biggest fire's i picked up for my girlfriend's dad (Lt. in the FDNY) for xmas...especially the "war years" photographs. I don't see this as particularly disturbing or over the top - it seems somewhat documentary in nature. I'm on the same page as Partyrock here.

[nycemt728 49]

PartyRock, I respect and understand your right and wish as a familiy member to view the video of your cousins accident. That however is different from posting footage for all the world to see. I do not see why it was necessary for this gentleman to focus so heavily on the children being worked up. I agree news can be shocking, but that was already covered on every major news channel for the past 3 days. Shock value is over! The message that 9 people have died is more than enough to change the batteries on my smoke detector; and the fact that the vidoe does not even have that message either in it or posted as a comment should give you some indication why it was posted.

This is not a Darfur, Iraq or Vietnam where certain issues may not be known by the general public threfore requring the use of shock imagery to get the point across. As 66alpha points out, much of the footgage is simliar, but this zooms in on every face. I could count hairs on the heads; one could easily identify who was who; that sort of detail is never necessary, shock imagery on not.

I will again ask you 66alpha and everyone else to consider, if this was your family would you want their images in the worst times in their lives to be posted on a website? (that is supposed to be for recreation I might add) Would this be how you would like them to be remembered/seen by people? Think before you answer, because I suspect that it might be easy to say now "Oh I don't care, it's just news" or somthing similar, but think back to a loss you may have suffered and the pain associated with it.

Thank you party and 66 for respectfully posting your opinions.

[CPAGE 2]

I do see what all of you are saying and I agree. He can shoot anything on the scene and street. But to zoom in on the pt in the back of the bus that is to much once in the bus game over.

My 2 cents

Chris

[Guest partyrock]

  I found the video on a newsite link to youtube.

←

I did find it on a site ment for recreational use. Yeah, indirectly, but thats only because I hate youtube and don't spend time searching it.

Sadly, this incident will do little to change peoples habits with their use of smoke detectors. With or without the graphic images people's habits will continue. It takes alot and people need to be personally affected to change their behavior. These incidents are much more effective at changing peoples opinion. If there's a pol looking to push any kind of fire prevention legislation through they will have no problems. Truth be told, I didn't have a working smoke detector till about 2 weeks ago when my nephew started breaking my stones about it. Damn schools and their fire safety lectures.

[Guest]

I just happened to replace the batteries in my smoke detectors today, they've probably been dead for more than 2 years. I think im going to see if i cant hardwire them or get someone to hardwire in them, because i know its unlikely my parents will bother replacing the batteries, often i think we all have too much going on to remember something so little yet so important.

As far as the footage, while its hard to say how i would feel in that situation, i think seeing the efforts of PD EMS and Fire would, in some way shape or form i cant really explain, soothe things a bit. Seeing how hard these people tried really makes a difference.