Authorities believe a malfunctioning hotplate left on to keep food warm over the Jewish Sabbath sparked the fire that killed seven children in a Brooklyn house early Saturday morning.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the victims were 5 to 15. He said a woman and a teenager, 14, survived after jumping from the second floor. They were in critical condition.
The woman, 45, is believed to be the mother of all eight children, Nigro said.
“This is the largest tragedy by fire that this city has had in seven years,” Nigro said. “It’s a tragedy for this family, it’s a tragedy for this community, it’s a tragedy for the city.”
Firefighters received a call at 12:23 a.m. about the fire at a private two-story brick home in Midwood, Brooklyn, a tight-knit predominately Orthodox Jewish enclave with a low crime rate.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze and brought the fire under control in about an hour.
