A man was killed in a fire in Brooklyn early Sunday morning, officials said.
Edzer Desire, 44, died in the blaze, which began inside his apartment on East 49th Street, in East Flatbush around 4:15 a.m., according to police.
The victim was found after the fire was extinguished and he was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Family members were told he died from smoke inhalation. They believe that Desire slept through the inferno.
“He came late from a party,” his older brother Richard Desire said. “He heard nothing, according to my mom. He fell asleep. He could not wake up.”
The victim’s distraught aunt, Marie Duvalsaint, who lived with him, added: “He spent all day outside the day before so they didn’t know if he was still there. They thought he was still out.”
The Haitian immigrant had struggled to find steady work over the last 10 years and finally got a job about six months ago, alongside his brother.
The youngest of four children, he cared for patients at Queens Dialysis Center and was saving money for nursing school.
“He’s the baby,” Duvalsaint said. “I’m going crazy.”
“He did everything for me – whatever I need,” she said.