A 400-pound aspiring R&B singer was killed today when a fire swept through his East Harlem apartment, authorities said.
Ricardo Duran was in his second-floor apartment off Fifth Avenue in the Taft Houses at 4:15 a.m. when an electrical cord to a fan in the pad sparked a fire and ignited some clothes, police sources said.
Firefighters found the obese man in cardiac arrest after they extinguished the flames, cops said.
“He was really sweet, really nice,” said one neighbor who declined to give her name. “I’m just sad. He didn’t deserve that.”
Duran, known in the neighborhood as “Big Boy,” was recently on a health kick — dropping 100 pounds from his heavy frame by taking daily walks, the neighbor said.
“Every night he’d walk the block and come back,” she said.
A nearby deli had his only album, Bruce Da Banna, underneath its clear countertop. It featured songs with titles such as “Large in the Streets,” “Do U Have a Dream,” and “God’s Blessings.”
Duran was rushed to Mount Sinai hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
It took 30 minutes for firefighter to get the blaze under control, the FDNY said.