Grief, anger as overflow crowd mourns Bronx fire victims at funeral

Dangerous housing conditions and systemic inequality led to last week's high-rise apartment fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people, a community leader said Sunday at a funeral service for 15 of the victims.

"We want the world to know, had these people lived in midtown Manhattan, we would not have a funeral," Sheikh Musa Drammeh told hundreds inside the mosque at the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx and hundreds more outside in tents and on the streets. "They would not need space heaters."

Seventeen people died in the Jan. 9 fire at the Twin Parks North West apartment building on East 181st Street in the Tremont section after an electrical space heater brought in for additional heat malfunctioned in a bedroom of a duplex's lower level, FDNY officials said.

The fire was limited to just that duplex and an adjoining hallway, but thick, suffocating smoke billowed throughout the 19-story building after open doors failed to self-close as required by New York City law. All the victims died from smoke inhalation, according to the city medical examiner.

"The conditions in which they lived caused their deaths," Drammeh said.

Thousands attended the service, with those unable to get inside the center watching a stream of the funeral on televisions in tents outside, where temperatures hovered around 20 degrees.

Among those attending were New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and state Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, who announced that Gov. Kathy Hochul has created a $2 million fund to provide housing assistance and other help for tenants of the fire-damaged building.

Officials who spoke at the service expressed anger at the conditions that caused the fire and vowed to bring change.

"This was about neglect," Attorney General Letitia James said. "No individuals should have to have space heaters. No individuals should have doors that do not close. There were conditions in that building that should have been corrected."

Outside, funeral attendees, most dressed in dark-colored winter coats, hats and scarfs, huddled close together in tight circles around the large television screens to watch the service. The tents were so crowded that a few people peered in through openings. The fire was the deadliest in New York City since 1990.

Amie Bah, 38, of Harlem, came to pay respects to the victims, whose ages ranged from 2 years old to 50. Bah said some of her family members live in a building not too far way in the same neighborhood. One of the boys who died went to the same school as her niece.

"I feel sad," Bah said. "The kids that lost their lives. The people that lost their lives. Even if you don’t know them, it’s sad. It’s a tragedy."

Funerals began Wednesday with a service at a Harlem mosque for two victims, Seydou Toure, 12, and sister Haouwa Mahamadou, 5.

Many attendees Sunday were from Gambia and spoke of the collective loss they felt for fire victims who came from the West African country. Some noted the comfort they took in standing shoulder to shoulder with others grieving the same loss under the tents.

"I’m here to pay respect to our fellow countrymen," said Fetou Nyassi, of the Bronx, who immigrated to the United States from Gambia 15 years ago.

Mahamadou Lamin Gakou, a New York University student studying computer science, said he didn’t know any victims personally but lived in another Twin Parks building a block away until a few years ago.

"That entire complex is saturated with a lot of Gambian and West African Muslim families," said Gakou, whose parents are Gambian immigrants. "In a way, we all knew each other because of family ties, friendships and school."

The doors that didn’t close — including to the duplex and another on a 15th stairwell floor — are a key focus of the city’s investigation, Adams has said.

A person briefed on the FDNY’s investigation has said the space heater had been left on for days and that multiple space heaters had been in operation in the duplex, where between eight and 12 members of a family lived. The family escaped.

Adams has said that heat was functioning properly in the building. The space heater was being used to provide additional warmth, the mayor said previously.

Nyassi said she rushed to the building last Sunday after hearing about the fire from a friend. "We just stood there. We can’t do nothing," she said. "I’m angry. … We are in 2022. People shouldn’t be cold in their houses."

With Matthew Chayes