Deadly Bronx fire started by 3-year-old playing with stove burners
A 3-year-old boy playing with his family's gas stove started a four-alarm fire in the Bronx on Thursday that left 12 people dead and four others with critical injuries. "He had a history of playing with the burners," New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said Friday, as reported by WABC-TV's N. J. Burkett.
The victims include a baby and several children, NBC New York reports. Speaking to reporters, Mayor Bill de Blasio called it "the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter-century" and an "unspeakable tragedy."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.