A Bronx woman battling cancer died in a fire this morning, authorities said.
Miriam Morales, 56, perished in the blaze that began in the fifth floor of a Jerome Park apartment building on Bainbridge Avenue near E 201 Street about 7:25 a.m., according to an FDNY spokesman.
Firefighters extinguished the flames shortly before 8 a.m., and Morales died at the scene.
The mother of two weighed about 65 pounds, and was battling throat cancer, according to her family.
Morales’ super, who would only be identified as Mr. Estrada, said her oxygen tank ignited while she was smoking. He said it had also caught fire the day before, and that her son put it out.
Morales’ son was at the scene this morning, but too grief-stricken to talk.
“Luckily, she didn’t take anyone with her,” said Estrada. “She was really sick. She had withered down. She was dying.”
Morales’ stepdad Jose Vasquez, 70, said the family had tried to get her to stop smoking.
“I was tired of telling her, if you smoke, cut back a little bit, don’t smoke one after the other,” he said. “Her mother would tell her too. We were trying to help, but she was 54 years old and there was nothing more we could do. We were expecting something like this.”
FDNY Commander William T. Law said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
“She was a beautiful woman. She was a very nice lady,” Estrada added. “Her son would stop by and visit. It’s sad. I’m shocked.”
Vasquez said Morales loved to go to the beach and vacation before she was sick, and enjoyed parties.
“Her mother is in dialysis now,” said Vasquez. “When her grandson called and told her what happened, she was crying. I told her to calm down. There is nothing you can do about it. Crying isn’t going to bring her back.”
The flames caused a panic for the other residents in the building.
Carlos Pizarro, 31, who lived above her, said he heard the commotion and opened his door. The hallway was pitch black from the smoke, he said.
“We had no idea where the fire was coming from, but within ten minutes our apartment was filled with smoke,” said Pizarro. “It was horrible. We couldn’t breathe. We had to escape through the fire escape and go to the roof for air.”