2007 — March 7, Fire from space-heater in row house, Bronx, NY — 10

— 10  Insurance Information Institute. The Ten Most Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires of 2007.

— 10  NFPA. The U.S. Fire Problem. Home Fires with Ten or more Fatalities (1980-2007). 2008.

— 10  NFPA Journal. “Multi-Death Incidents, 2007.”  September/October 2008, p. 57.

— 10  NY1 News. “Hundreds Gather to Mourn Victims of Deadly Bronx Fire,” March 12, 2007.

— 10  People’s Weekly World. “With 100 Dead, Action Urged to Curb House Fires, 3-17-2007.

 

NFPA: Fire alarm received at 11:08 p.m. Ten fatalities; five under the age of six. “This four-story, four-unit building was used as a single-family home…. Investigators found two smoke alarms in this residence. One was located in the hallway of the fourth story and one was in the basement.  Neither had batteries.

 

“Fire Origin and Path.  An electrical short ignited nearby combustibles in a first-story bedroom.  A resident attempted to extinguish the fire but was unsuccessful.  The fire spread throughout the room and into a hallway through a door left open by an occupant.  The fire then spread up an open staircase to the second and third stories.

 

“Contributing Factors and Victims Locations.  Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy smoking issuing from this home and were faced with a person dropping children from the second story. They were also told that there were multiple trapped occupants on the third and fourth stories.  Firefighters entered the upper stories via ground ladders, and located and removed several victims the same way.  Meanwhile engine companies attacked and knocked down the fire.  Six people managed to escape on their own, or were rescued by firefighters, including a mother who dropped two children into the arms of neighbors and jumped from the second story.  These three survived as well as several others.  Five of the victims were located on the fourth story, three were on the third story, and two were on the second story.” (NFPA Journal. “Multi-Death Incidents, 2007.”  Sep/Oct 2008, p. 57.)

 

March 12: NY1 News: “Hundreds of mourners flooded the Islamic Cultural Center and surrounding streets in Morrisania as an emotional funeral service was held for the nine children and one woman killed in last Wednesday’s massive house fire in the Bronx. Nine hearses arrived outside the mosque Monday afternoon, and slowly, one by one, the caskets carrying the bodies of the Magassa and Soumare families were carried inside. Mourners packed the mosque for the solemn service to show support for the two families dealing with the horrible tragedy.

 

“Malian immigrant Moussa Magassa lost five of his children in the blaze, and fellow countryman Mamadou Soumare lost his entire immediate family – four children and his first wife – when fire swept through the home the families shared on Woodycrest Avenue in Highbridge….” (NY1 News.  “Hundreds Gather to Mourn Victims of Deadly Bronx Fire,” March 12, 2007.)

 

March 17, People’s Weekly World: “Jim Harmes, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, told the World he has been a firefighter for over 35 years, and “I don’t remember when there have been so many multiple-death house fires as we’ve had so far this year.” Last week, he said, “10 people in two families died in New York City. By now we’re well over 100 people who have died in house fires this year, and that’s the cases that have been written up.”

 

Harmes was referring to the fire that swept through a four-story Bronx, N.Y., row house March 7, killing 10 members of two Malian immigrant families. It was the deadliest house fire in New York City in 17 years. Moussa Magassa lost his five children in the blaze. Thousands of grieving neighbors turned out for the funeral March 12. His housemate, Mamadou Soumare, lost his wife and all four of his children.

 

“The fire was blamed on a frayed electrical cord on a space heater they were using in the extreme winter cold. Soumare was driving his taxicab two miles from home the night the fire erupted.”

(People’s Weekly World. “With 100 Dead, Action Urged to Curb House Fires, 17 March 2007.)

 

Sources

 

Insurance Information Institute. “The Ten Most Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires in U.S. History.” Cites National Fire Protection Association. Accessed 9-28-2008 at:  http://www.iii.org/media/facts/statsbyissue/fire/?table_sort_735794=5

 

National Fire Protection Association. Fire Loss in the United States 2007.  Quincy, MA:  NFPA, August 2008, 41 pages. Accessed at: http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/OS.fireloss.pdf

 

National Fire Protection Association. “NFPA Report: U.S. Multiple-Death Fires for 2007.”  NFPA Journal, September/October 2008, pp. 57-63. Accessed at:  http://www.nfpa.org:80/publicJournalDetail.asp?categoryID=1674&itemID=40245&src=NFPAJournal&cookie_test=1

 

National Fire Protection Association. The U.S. Fire Problem. “Home Fires with Ten or More Fatalities (1980-2007).” Quincy, MA:  NFPA, April 2008 update. Accessed at:  http://www.nfpa.org:80/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=953&itemID=30981&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/The%20U.S.%20fire%20problem

 

NY1 News. “Hundreds Gather to Mourn Victims of Deadly Bronx Fire,” March 12, 2007.  Accessed at: http://www.ny1.com/?SecID=1000&ArID=67576

 

People’s Weekly World. “With 100 Dead, Action Urged to Curb House Fires.” 3-17-2007.  Accessed at: http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/10720/