Electric cord cited in fatal NYC blaze

Fireman, 40, killed in rescue attempt

NEW YORK -- A high-rise fire that killed a fire lieutenant started in a pinched electrical cord in a cluttered apartment, fire officials said Sunday, adding that the fire had been ruled accidental.

An air-conditioner cord was pinned between a bed frame and a wall in the 19th-floor Brooklyn apartment where Lt. Gordon Ambelas became trapped while looking for possible victims, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement. It was the New York Fire Department's first line-of-duty death in more than two years.

A pinched electrical cord can fray or otherwise become damaged enough to spark a fire if it's near combustible items, especially if heat builds up in a tight space.

At Ambelas' firehouse Sunday, firefighters and other department personnel gathered to fasten the traditional purple-and-black mourning bunting above the firehouse. They watched in silence as a large, red firetruck emerged from the firehouse of Tower Ladder 119 and Engine Co. 211.

Three firefighters in hard hats rose to fasten the bunting. One man held a bouquet of white roses. Others' eyes welled with tears.

The fire broke out around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the apartment, near the top of a 21-story building owned by the New York City Housing Authority. Flames spread to the 17th and 18th floors.

More than 100 firefighters responded. The blaze escalated quickly, but the fire was under control in about an hour, fire officials said.

The apartment was crowded with belongings, making searches difficult, according to the Fire Department.

"Ambelas went into the apartment to search for life and did not come out, and by the time his brother firefighters found him, it was too late for him," Nigro said.

Fellow firefighters found Ambelas unconscious and carried him out of the building. They worked with emergency rescuers to try to revive him, but he died at a hospital, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

"We have lost a real hero ... and our hearts are heavy," de Blasio said.

Two other firefighters and two residents were treated for minor injuries.

The Housing Authority said in a statement Sunday that it was working with firefighters on an investigation; the agency didn't answer questions about what fire prevention devices might have been in the apartment.

A light smell of smoke hung in the air outside the building Sunday as investigators went about their work and residents returned.

Steven Jimenez, 15, had been returning from a cookout to his ninth-floor apartment when he saw flames in a 19th-floor window. As he waited outside, he watched as a bandaged Ambelas was carried out.

"It looked scary ... and it was scary that it happened in my neighborhood," said Jimenez, who spent the night at a friend's home.

Ambelas was the first New York City firefighter killed on duty since Lt. Richard Nappi was killed fighting a Brooklyn warehouse blaze in April 2012.

Ambelas, a 40-year-old married father of two daughters from Staten Island, had been promoted to lieutenant 10 months ago. He had helped the city respond to superstorm Sandy and recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, among many other emergencies, said his fellow firefighter, friend and former roommate, Eric Bischoff.

"He died a hero -- that's how he lived," said Bischoff, calling Ambelas "truly one of the best human beings that anyone would ever want to meet."

In the blaze Saturday night, Bischoff said, Ambelas, "true to who he is, led these men from the front, with bravery."

Ambelas led a four-person team into the building, with one firefighter operating the elevator to the floor just below the fire. The lieutenant then went to the 19th floor with the other two firefighters, a "can man" carrying a fire extinguisher and another toting an ax and other tools to get into apartments.

The team then entered the one-bedroom apartment, 19B, where the blaze was thought to have started, fire officials said. What happened next is under investigation.

"There's going be an operational review," said Jim Long, a Fire Department spokesman.

Ambelas was among the firefighters from Tower Ladder 119 honored last month for helping save a 7-year-old boy who became trapped in a roll-down gate in May. The boy was pulled 15 feet off the ground when his arm and head got stuck.

Ambelas said at the time that the accident "shows that FDNY members are always ready to help others. It was great teamwork all around."

The boy is being raised in the neighborhood's Satmar Hasidic Jewish community, and members of a local synagogue put up fliers Sunday mourning Ambelas' death.

"The entire community's heartbroken and saddened," Rabbi Lieb Glanz said.

Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz and Julie Walker of The Associated Press and by Vivian Yee, Al Baker, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Annie Correal, J. David Goodman, Rick Rojas and John Surico of The New York Times.

A Section on 07/07/2014

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