A 68-year-old Queens man who moved a week ago to be closer to his wife’s job was killed Sunday when a fast-moving blaze swept through his new building, fire officials and witnesses said.
Seven others were injured in the blaze at 69th Street and Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, including three critically. Fire officials have tagged the blaze as suspicious because of the speed at which it moved and its location between the second and third floors, which was not near any electrical outlets, according to sources.
At one point during the early-morning chaos, two of the injured people tore out of the burning building from a second-floor apartment covered in flames and screaming for help.
“They walked into my store on fire. Their whole body was on fire. They were screaming, ‘Please, help!’ ” said Mohammed Al-Matari, 45, who operates a deli in the building that went up in flames.
The stunned shopkeeper grabbed several gallons of Poland Spring water from his shelves and doused the burning man and woman.
“I tried to do everything I can, but their whole body was in flames,” he said. “We did the best we could.”
Meanwhile, another three of the victims were forced to jump out of the second- and third-story apartments of the building at Metropolitan Avenue and 69th Street, witnesses said.
In one instance, firefighters were trying to rescue a trapped victim from the third floor with a ladder, but he couldn’t wait and jumped, fire officials said.
He ended up falling on top of a woman who was hanging out of a second-floor window screaming for help and knocking her to the ground as well, witnesses and firefighters said.
Firefighters found Heriberto Garcia-Vera, 68, dead at the scene in his third-floor apartment. Sources said he died from smoke inhalation.
“It was only a week that he was here,” said Mike Hameed, 42, who also works in the deli in the building.
“He was so happy to be here with the deli downstairs and close to his wife’s job.”
The dead man told him, “My wife was taking three buses to work. That’s why we moved here.”
William Salazar, 31, who lives in a second-floor apartment, suffered burns on 40 percent of his body and smoke inhalation, said relatives at the burn unit in Cornell Weill Medical Center.
Investigators are trying to determine if the flammable materials that he uses in his carpet-cleaning business or the thunderstorm hours before were factors in the blaze, sources said.
Salazar’s girlfriend, Agnes Bermudez, 48, of Newburgh, NY, also suffered serious burns, including on her face, said relatives.
Additional Reporting by Larry Celona and
Jamie Schram