FDNY Investigates Partial House Collapse in Queens

Fire officials are investigating what caused a second-alarm fire and partial collapse of a home Wednesday in an area of Queens badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

Firefighters at the scene in Howard Beach put the flames under control at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday and a woman was hospitalized with burns, a FDNY spokesman said. Footage earlier in the day showed heavy smoke and flames rising from the home and witnesses reported hearing an explosion.

Neighbor John Dezago, whose house sits catty-corner from the collapsed home, said and fellow neighbors saw a woman hanging out of a window in the house. They urged the woman, who appeared to be badly burned about the head and face, to come down from the home and then helped her across the street.

“She was in so much pain,” said Dezago. “She was out of it. She kept yelling, ‘The pain, the pain! I can’t take the pain!’”

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the May 30th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.