NEW YORK - The deadly fire that killed 17 people in New York City on Sunday started with a malfunctioning electric space heater, but the smoke that took most of the lives spread because the burning apartment's door was not closed as residents fled.

It is a common thread in some of the city's worst fires of recent years, with tragic consequences.

"The door to that apartment, unfortunately, when the residents left was left open, it did not close by itself. The smoke spread throughout the building, thus the tremendous loss of life," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a Sunday news conference.

In fact, Nigro said, the fire never got beyond the hallway in front of the origin apartment.

The fire commissioner said Monday that doors in the apartment building were self-closing, but the door to the duplex unit and one on the 15th floor were not functioning properly. Mayor Eric Adams said the building had few violations, none related to the fire, and Nigro said the federally funded building may have been built outside city fire codes.

The FDNY has an ongoing campaign called "Close the Door" where it encourages people to close doors behind them as they flee fires.

New York mayor revises Bronx fire death toll to 17, cautions count could still rise

Up to 13 people remained in critical condition Monday, with many more hospitalized, after New York City's deadliest fire in three decades tore through a towering Bronx apartment complex, killing over a dozen. Eight were children.

The initial death toll has been lowered to 17, at least eight of those victims are children, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday. In the immediate aftermath of Sunday's devastating blaze, city officials had confirmed 19 deaths connected to the fire.

Investigators determined that a malfunctioning electric space heater, plugged in to give extra heat on a cold morning, started the fire in the 19-story building on 181st Street early Sunday afternoon. A door left open in the burning apartment fueled the spread of flames and ultimately the devastating loss of life and property.

The flames damaged only a small part of the building, but smoke escaped through that open door and billowed through stairwells and halls, trapping many people in their apartments and incapacitating others as they fled. Most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation, and many of those victims were found in hallways.

Multiple limp children were seen being given oxygen after they were carried out. Evacuees had faces covered in soot. There were harrowing tales of survival, as some used curtains or sheets to make makeshift ropes for window escapes.

Firefighters found victims on every floor, many in cardiac and respiratory arrest, Nigro noted at a Sunday press conference. Some could not escape because of the sheer volume of smoke, he said.

The building is equipped with smoke alarms, but several residents said they initially ignored them because alarms were so common in the 120-unit building.

Large, new apartment buildings in the city are required to have sprinkler systems and interior doors that swing shut automatically to contain smoke and deprive fires of oxygen, but those rules don't apply to thousands of the city's older buildings. (Source: NBC New York)

Story Date: January 11, 2022