A Staten Island man was killed when an early-morning fire swept through his home, police and relatives said.
Jameek Champagne, 23, died in the third-floor attic of the home on Osgood Avenue in Clifton. His brother and grandfather escaped the blaze uninjured.
A neighbor reported the blaze after seeing flames erupt from the house at about 5:40 a.m. He banged on the door in a frantic effort to awaken its residents.
The fire was extinguished about an hour after it started, according to an FDNY spokesman. Fire marshals are investigating what caused it.
About ten cars full of grief-stricken relatives and friends came to the scene to mourn Champagne. His devastated girlfriend said that the two had a newborn girl and a 1-year-old boy.
“We’re just trying to find out how this happened,” Champagne’s uncle said, weeping.