Yesterday, a fast-moving fire in a Brooklyn home claimed the lives of a 62-year-old man and his two daughters, 14 and 3. The blaze, which started around 5:30 p.m. on Putnam Avenue in Bushwick, is considered suspicious and WABC 7 reports, "Investigators believe it may have been started by kids playing with matches in a stairwell. Investigators are unsure if it was set intentionally or if it was just horseplay that spiraled out of control."
Three-year-old Jemymiah Lormond was found on the second floor, and declared dead at Woodhull Hospital. Her older sister Dzhane and father Jeff, both on the third floor, were declared dead at the scene. According to the News, "The dead girls' mother, Theresa Wilson, was at work during the catastrophe, relatives said. Her 16-year-old daughter died last year from complications of leukemia, relatives said, leaving her with seven children. 'Jeff took care of the kids all the time,' said relative Patrick Joyner. 'He's a hard worker.'"
Another neighbor spoke to WCBS 2, “I seen [children] playing with the fire, so I came from the store over there, I come back and, and all I see is the stairs on fire and everything, and everybody was outside going crazy." Another neighbor told the Post, "I saw a firefighter coming out of the flames cradling a little girl’s body. She looked badly burned. It was horrifying. It was like stepping into hell."
