Police are investigating a fire in a Bronx apartment that left an 18-month-old girl and her two-year-old sister dead. The mother was reportedly across the street during the fire; a witness said, "I see her coming straight across from the laundromat, screaming 'my babies, my babies.' Once they told her she couldn't come inside, she fell right there. They took her away."
Update: WCBS 2 reports that the cause of the fire was unattended burning incense. No smoke detectors were found either.
According to authorities, around 6:30 p.m., police officers responded to a fire at 1368 Webster Avenue, which is the Butler Houses, and found the blaze was at apartment 3F. The girls, Jannubi Jabie, 2, and Amanda Jabie, 18 months, were removed from the home and taken to Bronx Lebanon Hospital where they were pronounced dead.
The girls' mother, identified by the Daily News as Haya Conce, was reportedly distraught. A witness said, "She saw the flames. She was screaming as they brought the kids down and gave them CPR on the sidewalk... They put her on a stretcher and got her in an ambulance."
(David Torres)
The fire was under control by 8:45 p.m. One resident told the Post that "she called 911 when she saw the apartment window air conditioner on fire."
Resident Davon Jackson spoke to WABC 7, "Me and my neighbor were standing outside and we saw flames burst from the window. Air-conditioner exploded. I went upstairs to see if there was anybody in the hallway, anybody who needed help, and we heard kids crying. But it was too black, we couldn't breathe."
"We heard a little banging on the glass, we don't know if it was the children," Alison Baker said to NBC New York.
FDNY Deputy Fire Chief Gary Rocco said they are "Checking to see if there are smoke detectors in the apartment and preliminary, we did not see any smoke detectors."
Ten people, including three firefighters, were injured. Earlier this year, an unattended toddler died in a Brooklyn apartment fire; her mother was arrested.
