NY Daily News – December 09, 2016
by AIDAN MCLAUGHLIN THOMAS TRACY
A blaze sparked by a faulty space heater tore through a Queens apartment building early Thursday, leaving one man fighting for his life and five residents injured, officials said.
Three firefighters also suffered injuries as the fire broke out on the fourth floor of a six-story building on Sanford Ave. near 157th St. in Murray Hill around 4:40 a.m., and quickly spread to the fifth and sixth floors.
Building resident Hector Bargas said he and his wife Diana Aldana were woken up by his neighbor’s screams.
“We ran outside and saw smoke,” Bargas, 59, said. “One man was taken away on a stretcher. He didn’t look good.”
More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze that raged until it was brought under control at about 6 a.m., officials said.
Paramedics rushed the critically injured man to Jacobi Medical Center, where he remained in grave condition Thursday.
His five neighbors and the three firefighters — all suffering minor injuries — were treated at Queens Hospital Center, officials said.
The fire was caused by a sparking space heater plugged into a power strip, an FDNY source said.
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