The fire started shortly after 12:30 a.m. Friday on the fourth floor of a five-story structure on St. Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights.
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Video from the Citizen App showed flames shooting out of the building. Residents then scrambled to alert their neighbors and make it out safely themselves.
When firefighters arrived, they found 41-year-old Natasha Paulema unconscious and unresponsive inside her fourth-floor apartment.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Residents say Paulema was a mother of three who had just celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary.
Nine other people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including a 10-year-old girl.
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Investigators said a faulty extension cord caused the deadly fire, and there were no smoke detectors in the apartment.
Meantime, residents are displaced and frustrated as they wait for answers. The Red Cross was assisting some of the families.
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