NYC's four deadliest fires since 1990 have all been in the Bronx

The Happy Land social club fire in the Bronx killed 87 people on March 25, 1990.
By Eyewitness News
Monday, January 10, 2022
New York City's four deadliest fires since 1990 have all been in the Bronx, including the Happy Land Social Club fire.
THE BRONX (WABC) -- New York City's four deadliest fires since 1990 have all been in the Bronx.

On Sunday, at least 19 people were killed, including nine children, in a catastrophic fire that broke out at a high-rise apartment building in the Tremont section, officials said, making it one of the most deadly fires since 1990.
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March 25, 1990 - Happy Land Social Club Fire


87 people were killed in the Happy Land Social Club fire. Julio Gonzalez deliberately set the club on fire and blocked its only exit.

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New York City Mayor David Dinkins speaks to news people at the scene of the Bronx, New York, social club fired which killed at least 87 people in 1990.none
Julio Gonzalez, suspect in the Happy Land social club fire in the Bronx, New York City in March 1990. 87 people were killed in the arson incident. (AP Photo)none
The bodies of 50 people killed in a Bronx social club fire lie in a hangar at Kennedy Airport in New York, March 31, 1990 prior to a midnight flight to Honduras. (Hilary Isaacs)none
Millie Mann, left, her mother Crucita Velez, center, and Marilyn Laguna point to names of relatives on a placard remembering the 87, victims of the Happy Land Social Club fire.none
The charred facade of the Happy Land social club in the Bronx section of New York City is pictured in 1990.none


Gonzalez's former girlfriend was employed at the club. Most of the people who died were young Hondurans celebrating Carnival.

He was ultimately convicted of murder and arson. He died in jail serving his sentence.

March 8, 2007 - Woodycrest Ave. Fire


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Ten people were killed, nine of them children, in a fire on 1022 Woodycrest Avenue in the Highbridge section. The fire was sparked by an overheated cord to a space heater in the basement bedroom.

The woman who first noticed the fire tried to first put it out by herself, not calling 9-1-1 for several minutes. The building's two smoke detectors also had no batteries.
Those inside the burning inferno threw the children out the windows, in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

December 28, 2017 - Belmont Apartment Fire


Thirteen people were killed in an apartment fire on 2363 Prospect Avenue. Officials say the fast-moving fire was started by a three-year-old boy playing with burners on the stove.

Charred items sit on the fire escape of an apartment building where more than 10 people died in a fire a day earlier in the Bronx borough of New York, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017.AP
Firefighters respond to a deadly fire Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
Emelia Ascheampong, right, a resident of the building where more than 10 people died in a fire on Thursday, is hugged by a friend on Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, in the Bronx.AP
Smoke rises from a window of a burned apartment of the building where twelve people died in a fire on Thursday, on Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
A woman looks out the window of a building adjacent to an apartment building where more than 10 people died in fire a day earlier in the Bronx.AP
This Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, photo shows broken windows on the back of the building where more than 10 people died Thursday in a fire in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
Police stand guard as paramedics leave the scene near the building Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, where more than 10 people died in a fire on Thursday in the Bronx.AP
Firefighters respond to a building fire Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
A man uses a cell phone to take images of an apartment building where more than 10 people died in fire a day earlier in the Bronx borough of New York, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017.AP
Fernando Beatiz talks to reporters near the site of an apartment fire where more than 10 people died in a fire a day earlier in the Bronx.AP
A police officer walks in between firefighters trucks Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, in the Bronx.AP
Juan I. Sanchez waits for officials to let him drop off flowers at the site of a deadly fire in the Bronx, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017.AP
Betty Rodriguez and her husband Joel Rodriguez, residents of the building where more than 10 people died in a fire on Thursday, react as they talk to the media on Dec. 29, 2017.AP
Firefighters respond to a deadly fire Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
A resident leaves the scene Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, near the building where more than 10 people died in a fire on Thursday, in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
Police and workers inspect the building Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, where more than 10 people died in a fire in the Bronx borough of New York.AP
A firefighter ladder lay on the wall as furniture is seen through the broken windows of a building Friday, Dec. 29, 2017.AP
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The boy's mother was alerted to the fire by the boy screaming. She escaped the apartment with her kids but left the front door open.

The victims ranged in age from 1 to 63.



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