A Brownsville fire has claimed the life of a woman just two days after killing her 1-year-old grandson and injuring six other family members, reports said.
Alexandra Melo, 40, succumbed to her injuries Friday, according to reports. She is the second person to die in the Dec. 14 fire on the top floor of a building in the Howard Houses public housing complex. Six others that were in the apartment on Mother Gaston Boulevardwere taken to local hospitals and treated for smoke inhalation and minor injuries.
Melo’s 1-year-old grandson Ivan Baez was found unresponsive in the three-bedroom apartment. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The cause of the fire was faulty electrical wiring in the kitchen, the New York Daily News reported.
We should not lose any Brooklynite to a fire. My office will continue our outreach on #firesafety in #Brownsville and across #Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/TWbOSIuYca
— Eric Adams (@BPEricAdams) December 16, 2016
“I’d like to send my condolences out to the family,” Borough President Eric Adams, who announced Melo’s death, said, according to the Daily News.“When a child dies in our community… it reverberates throughout our entire community.” Adams, according to the publication, is also leading a fundraising effort to help the family cover funeral expenses.
