Earlier this morning, a two-alarm fire ravaged a Bronx two-family home, killing a 36-year-old man, a 40-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy. The blaze, which was called "possibly suspicious," occurred on Prospect Avenue in the Belmont section around 3:30 a.m. The FDNY said, "There were heavy fire conditions on both the second and third floors of a three-story brownstone. When we arrived, numerous people on the street were screaming." And another city official said the building was illegally occupied.
Over a hundred firefighters were needed to put out the blaze, which also injured eight people. A neighbor told the Daily News, "We tried to go outside and there were flames burning so bad we could barely get out." The building was supposed to be empty, but it's believed that the victims, Juan Lopez, his wife Christina and their son, Christian Garcia, moved in last month. The gas and electricity had been shut off, and another neighbor told WCBS 2 that it seemed like there may have been illegal rigging of electricity. In fact, Con Ed was called to shut down an illegal power source last week.
According to the News, there were also complaints of illegal subdivision on the floors and "Property records show the building had slipped into foreclosure in 2005 and that ownership had passed through several banks since then. Neighbors said squatters soon began taking over."
