Bronx fire: Space heater likely caused blaze that killed 19

The apartment blaze, in which 19 people were killed, was one of New York’s deadliest in over 30 years

A space heater has been blamed for a fire which killed at least 19 people, including nine children, in a Bronx apartment building on Sunday afternoon.

According to officials, the blaze was caused by a malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom on one of the lower floors of the 19-story Twin Parks apartment.

As New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro explained (via USA Today), the door to the apartment in question was left open, allowing smoke to quickly spread throughout the entire building.

“In buildings like this there are no fire escapes, there are interior stairways,” Mr Nigro confirmed. “Residents should know where the stairwells are. I think some of them could not escape because of the volume of smoke.”

Firefighters work outside an apartment building after a fire in the Bronx, on January 9, 2022, in New York. (AFP via Getty Images)

Thirteen people remain in critical condition in hospital, with around 60 residents of the building injured overall. According to Mr Nigro, most of the 19 fatalities were caused by smoke inhalation.

Sunday’s tragic incident was the deadliest U.S residential apartment building fire since 2017, when 13 people were killed in a different Bronx apartment block.

“This is a horrific, epic, painful moment for the city of New York,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Sunday. “The impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of pain and despair in our city. The numbers are horrific.”

“This is going to be one of the worst fires that we have witnessed during modern times here in the city of New York,” Mr Adams added.

Building resident Luis Rosa told The Associated Press that he was awakened by the fire, but dismissed its severity initially.

“Once I opened the door, I couldn’t even see that far down the hallway. So I said, OK, we can’t run down the stairs because if we run down the stairs, we’re going to end up suffocating”, Mr Rosa claimed.

“All we could do was wait.”

Another resident, Vernessa Cunningham, informedUSA Today that she raced home from church after getting an alert on her cellphone that the building was on fire.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was in shock,” Ms Cunningham said from a nearby school where some residents gathered. “I could see my apartment. The windows were all busted out. And I could see flames coming from the back of the building.”

The FDNY said over 300 members of the department responded to try and tackle the blaze; which, they add, was deemed ‘under control’ as of 1:2pm ET on Sunday afternoon.