A malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom was the source of an apartment building fire Sunday in the Bronx that killed 17 people, including 8 children, making it one of the worst fires in the city’s history, New York Mayor Eric Adams said Monday.
Adams revised the death toll Monday down from 19, saying it was an evolving situation. A CNN review of local hospitals shows that at least eight patients are still hospitalized in relation to the fire, while at least 25 people have been treated and released.
Now, the building’s fire alarms and a series of open doors are on the radar of investigators and officials probing the second major deadly fire in a week in the Northeast.
The Bronx blaze was deemed the second most deadly US home fire in nearly 40 years by the National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA also reported that heating equipment is the second-leading cause of US home fires and the third-leading cause of home fire deaths and injuries.
“This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York, and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city,” Adams said Sunday.
Many of those in the building were Muslim immigrants from the West African nation of The Gambia. The country’s ambas