Flames shot through the roof of the three-story house on Beach Avenue. The fire broke out just after 5:45 a.m. and quickly made its way through the home.
A Fire Department spokesman says the initial 911 caller gave the wrong address for the fire building. The first call was made at 5:42am and the address given was for a building 4 blocks away on Beach Avenue.
Less than a minute later, a second 911 call was made that gave the correct address of 735 Beach Avenue.
The closest fire units had to check out the initial call with the wrong address, because at the time, they didn't know it was wrong. Dispatch had to send separate crews, which were further away, to the correct address once the second call came in.
As a result, it took firefighters almost 8 minutes to get to the fire building after the initial 911 call was made. When they got to the scene, fire was visible on all three floors. On average, firefighters arrive at a fire in NYC in 4 minutes.
Firefighters sweeping the collapsed building discovered three bodies in the rubble. 71-year-old Anneta Isaac, 73-year-old John Debro and 12-year-old Jahvonte Smith were killed in the fire.
Three other residents were taken to Jacobi Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, and two firefighters were also being treated for injuries.
The roof collapsed into the building, and brought down the interior floors.
The fire was deemed to have been caused by an accidental gas leak.
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