Deadly fire in Harlem kills 6 including 4 children

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - The New York Fire Department says six people, including four children, were killed in an early morning blaze in a Harlem apartment building.  The FDNY is investigating why smoke alarms did not sound in the unit.

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro says they received a call at 1:40 a.m. from a person across the street from the seven-story Fred Samuels Houses on Seventh Avenue near 142 Street reporting the blaze.

Nigro says firefighters responded within three minutes to the fifth-floor fire.

He says firefighters aggressively moved in to extinguish the flames and when they reached two rear bedrooms they found two adults and four children, ranging in ages from 3 to 11, deceased.

A 45-year-old woman, her 33-year-old step-son, an 11-year-old boy, and eight-year-old boy, a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old male were reportedly killed.

A vigil was held for the victims on Wednesday night outside of the building.

Nigro says there were approximately 100 firefighters on the scene and it took more than an hour to get the fire under control.

Firefighters blame unattended cooking in the kitchen for the fire.

A second vigil will be held Thursday at the school where the children attended.

With the Associated Press