95-year-old killed, 6-year-old among injured in Queens house fire
ST. ALBANS, Queens (WABC) -- A 95-year-old woman has died and two others, including a 6-year-old girl, are in critical condition after a fire tore through a house in Queens on Sunday morning.
The fire broke out just before 8 a.m. at a home on 202nd Street between 113th Avenue and Murdock Avenue in St. Albans.
"Now she's with god in heaven and I believe she's okay now," said Janai Grant.
Grant was talking about her grandmother, Joyce Buncom. The 95-year-old was killed in the fire. Grant wasn't home at the time, but her 6-year-old daughter, Aylani was in the home, along with Grant's mother, who is 68.
"My daughter is in critical condition at the ICU. My mother is...on tubes. I haven't gone to see her yet, because I'm dealing with my daughter," said Grant.
Neighbors say they heard a loud rumble come from the home Sunday morning. Firefighters appeared to focus on the basement,
Sylvia Lovelace lives next door and was waiting to go to church when she saw flames.
"One of the firemen told my driver it was the boiler, it was fried, no water was getting into it -- it exploded," Lovelace said.
Miss Joyce, as her neighbors called her, was a staple in the community where she lived for more than six decades.
"Sweetest thing you want to know and her daughter is always taking her to the doctor and when I come out and I'm going about my business, I'm like 'hi Miss Buncom' and she's like 'hi Mr. Grier,'" Demond Grier said.
Neighbors say just weeks ago the 95-year-old was vacationing in Florida with family and friends, doing the conga line and living life to the fullest.
"I'll always remember my grandmother with a glass of wine, with ice, spinning it around with her finger, being the life of the party and dancing," Grant added.
Grant had to work this weekend, so she dropped her daughter at the house on Saturday.
"I know I might not look sad, but I'm trying to hold it together...three of my family members are, you know...it's a lot right now," she says.
Fire marshals are now trying to determine what caused the fire.
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