On Easter Sunday, a fire in a cramped apartment on Chevy Chase Street in Jamaica Estates, Queens, claimed the lives of three men aged 45, 52, and 67. The tenant, Tony Rock, described the chaos as 'Hell,' with people screaming and jumping from windows. The fire spread to the attic rapidly after starting around 1:30 a.m., and eight others were hospitalized but in stable condition. Investigators noted the presence of overcrowded living conditions, cluttered stairwells, and a lack of working smoke detectors as significant safety violations contributing to the tragedy.
There were people screaming, jumping out the windows, the tenant, Tony Rock, 40, said hours later. He described the scene in one word: Hell.
The blaze ascended to the attic in a matter of minutes, fire officials said at a news conference on Sunday.
The house was overcrowded with people, with makeshift partition walls creating small rooms.
There were no working smoke detectors, he added.
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