The Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) is holding events across the city in an effort to reduce fires and educate people about staying safe if a fire should occur. The events are part of the 92nd National Fire Prevention Week.
The series of events is timely. There have been several fatal fires in recent days. A 10-year-old boy in Brooklyn died when his apartment caught fire. Investigation by FDNY revealed that the fire was caused by a pinched electrical cord in the apartment. There were also no working smoke detectors in the apartment, which was located in the Louis H. Pink Houses, a New York City Public Housing Authority project.
The rest of the boy’s family escaped the blaze.
The day after the fire, FDNY distributed informational material to residents about fire prevention and how to stay safe in kitchen, electrical or candle fires. The boy’s father, a Nigerian immigrant, said that neither he nor his wife smokes and that he doesn’t allow matches or candles in the house.
Another recent Brooklyn explosion and fire killed one woman and injured several others. Another person is still missing. There have been reports of a disconnected gas line in the kitchen. Officials have speculated that the missing woman may have trying to disconnect the stove to remove it from the apartment. However, this could not be fully determined because the building was still smouldering.
A man who lived in the apartment above the missing woman’s kitchen also died when the explosion blew out the front wall of the building. One man and two boys walking by the building at the time of the explosion were injured; one was reported to be in critical condition.
This is the third deadly gas explosion in the city in the past 18 months. Local officials have called for the city and state to look into the need for more regulation of gas lines and the process of installing devices that use natural gas.