By Julian Roberts-Grmela, John Annese
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A 65-year-old man is dead after a fire broke out in a Queens home Sunday morning — and firefighters found a burned up e-bike at the scene, authorities said.
The blaze started just before 11 a.m. in the two-story house on 146th St. near Foch Blvd. in Jamaica and quickly spread to three alarms.
A woman in the neighborhood recalled hearing three loud “explosions” before the flames erupted.
“A whole lot of black smoke, and then you see some flames,” said a resident on the block. “I feel sorry for the people that was there.”
Firefighters found the victim unconscious inside and took him to Jamaica Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved, according to an NYPD spokesman.
A neighbor told the Daily News the victim had been in poor health, often confined to his home where he relied on an oxygen tank to assist with his breathing. His name was not immediately released.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
FDNY Assistant Chief Michael Meyers told reporters Sunday that firefighters found an e-bike “that had burned through,” but were still determining if it started the blaze.
“Even if it wasn’t the cause of the fire, it probably definitely contributed to the fire condition,” he said. “And it might have been the catalyst for what happened in the beginning when the fire first started to burn.”
Firefighters also found four propane tanks, the kinds typically used in grills, but none of them exploded in the blaze, he said.
Five people, three of them firefighters, suffered minor injuries in the blaze, FDNY officials said.
The blaze spread to several sheds before firefighters brought it under control just before 12:10 p.m.
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