NEW YORK - More than a dozen people were fighting for their lives Monday following a deadly fire in a Bronx apartment building that killed 17 people including eight children. Mayor Eric Adams corrected the death count during a briefing Monday afternoon to reflect two fewer deaths, but that count was expected to rise.
Officials said a space heater sparked the flames Sunday in Fordham Heights and smoke inhalation likely killed most of the victims including a three-year-old. Patients were taken to seven different hospitals and there was a double count.
Officials say the five-alarm NYC fire began with a malfunctioning electric, portable space heater inside a duplex located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the 19-story Twin Parks North West apartment building just before 11 a.m.