https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...lwy-story.html
A raging Harlem cooking fire wiped out a family of six early Wednesday, including four children, officials said.
Mom Andrea Pollidore, 45, died alongside her 33-year-old stepson and four of her kids after the fire broke out about 1:40 a.m. inside their three-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of the Frederick E. Samuel Houses at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. and W. 142nd St.
The youngest victim was 4-year-old Elijah.
?He was smart, a quick learner," devastated dad Jean Belot said when he visited the burned out building after getting the tragic news. "I?m not in a good state of mind.?
Also killed in the fire was little Elijah?s 11-year-old sister, 6-year-old sister and 8-year-old brother, officials said.
All six victims were found dead inside two bedrooms, officials said.
"This is a gut wrenching moment for all of us,? Mayor de Blasio said in a press conference at the scene. ?As a father, thinking that yesterday evening four children were going to bed and they?re gone now is very very painful.?
Friends of the family were left reeling from the loss.
?They are good to us," one friend who declined to give his name said. "The daughter was my daughter?s best friend. I saw them yelling out the window . . . They all died in that corner room.?
The family friend said the 11-year-old daughter frequently cooked for the rest of the family.
?One of them was cooking and left the oil on,? the friend speculated.
Firefighters arrived in three minutes but the blaze quickly spread from the stove top, trapping the family.
?We were met at the door of that apartment with fire,? said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro. ?The entire apartment was involved. They aggressively move in, extinguishing the fire as they did. They reached the two rear bedrooms (where) we found six occupants of that apartment deceased.?
Flames poured from five windows in the apartment on two sides of the building. ?As aggressive as the members could be, they were not able to reach those occupants,? Nigro said. ?Every bit of that apartment had fire damage.?
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The fire also damaged the apartment above but nobody there was hurt.
?It?s never easy for our members," Nigro added. ?We?re in the business of saving lives. It?s very difficult for our members.?
A smoke alarm was installed in the apartment in June 2017, NYCHA officials said. But tenants who escaped the building said they heard no alarms.
?We want to investigate that very question," de Blasio said. "There had been smoke alarms installed, it had been tested this January. The whole reason for the fire department investigation is understanding everything that happened.?
Neighbors described escaping from the fast-moving fire.
?I heard glass shattering,? said Claudette Grant, 33, who lives on the floor below the doomed family.
?Then I heard kids screaming, ?Help, there?s a fire, there?s a fire!? I went out to try to look out the window but before I could get to my living room my neighbors were knocking on the door saying, ?Everybody get out of the building, get out of the building!? I woke everyone up, I got my baby, and we went outside.?
Grant escaped with her 20-month-old son, 12-year-old daughter and 11-year-old niece. She was shocked to learn her upstairs neighbors weren?t so lucky.
"It?s still devastating,' she said. ?And to think, Mother?s Day is this weekend.?
?I used to see her picking the kids up from school," she said of Pollidore. "I?d see them at the store. She was a giving mother. She would see me with my toddler and she?d be like, ?How old is your baby? I have clothes for him, is he a 3T yet? I?m gonna come over anyway and give you some clothes.? I thought she was caring.?
Friends said Pollidore, a single mom, was attacked by an ex-boyfriend in Brooklyn about three years ago who threw hot oil in her face, leaving her visibly scarred.
?She sacrificed her needs for her kids,? one friend who declined to give his name said. "She got up every morning, made sure they were up, clean, dressed, went to school . . . She loved her kids very much. You saw her, you saw her kids. She did what a mother was supposed to do. She was doing it all on her own.?
Partial view of the Frederick E. Samuel Houses and the apartment where six people, four of them kids, were killed in a raging Harlem fire Wednesday morning. (Luiz C Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)
https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/...STGNCD2SOE.jpg
Mom Andrea Pollidore, 45, died alongside her 33-year-old stepson and four of her kids. (Obtained by New York Daily News)