On Sunday morning, January 9, New York’s community was left in shock after a tragic apartment fire killed at least 17 people in the Bronx. Firefighters worked hard outside the soaked infested apartment building while doctors worked to save the lives of many people badly injured when smoke from a fire knocked them out or trapped them in their apartments. Investigators sought answers Monday as to why safety doors failed to close when fire broke out within the building, creating thick smoke that spread throughout the tower. Seventeen people, including 8 children, were killed in the fire. This has been marked as one of the deadliest blaze in more than three decades seen in NYC.Three children and two parents were from one family, the Dukurays, who lived on the top floor of the 19 story Twin Parks North West building. The fire was later found out to be caused by a faulty space heater on the third floor. Smoke traveled upstairs through a malfunctioning open doorway, making it difficult for many residents who left their apartments to escape. While the city takes time to recollect itself after this horrific tragedy and work fast to aid those whose lives are suddenly torn apart, many wonder if there could have been anything done to help prevent this in the first place.

The electric space heater that caught fire in the duplex apartment expanded smoke within seconds, reaching the second and third floors of the 19- story building. When the residents fled, the smoke followed them through the open door. Sadly, once firefighters had arrived people on each floor of the building had fallen victim to the fire. The flames damaged only a small part of the building, but smoke poured through the apartment’s open door and turned stairwells into dark, ash-choked death traps. Due to the fact that the stairs were the only way of escaping safely, the tower was too tall for everyone to make it out before being consumed by thick heavy smoke. Built in 1972 and praised as an affordable housing experiment, the building did not have a sprinkler system, a legal requirement, nor did it have outdoor fire escapes, according to the New York Times. So why was it praised when it did not make for a suitable living area with such high risks of failure?.

During such an emotional time, we must also take time to honor those who have risked their lives to help others, including 200 firefighters and emergency medical responders who rushed to the scene and raced throughout the building. Altogether, they managed to rescue more than 40 people who surely would have perished. Many of the rescuers pressed on after their air tanks were depleted. Dejesus, who was in her two-floor apartment with her son and 3 year old granddaughter, immediately noticed what was happening and rushed to call family members. They all ran to get towels to put under the door, preventing smoke from entering the rooms. Despite their efforts, smoke began coming down her stairs before the 56 year old resident could get the towels. So instead they all ran to the back of the apartment.“It was so scary,” she said. “Just the fact that we’re in a building that’s burning and you don’t know how you’re going to get out. You don’t know if the firefighters are going to get to you in time.” Firefighters broke down her door and helped all three out the window and down a ladder to safety. Dejesus clung to her rescuer on the way down.

Many say that this has been the worst fire in the past three decades, leaving families in grief and a city in deep remorse. Mourn those who have passed. Help those who are still alive. Hail those who risked their own lives to save another. The fire was New York City’s deadliest since 1990. At the Happy Land Club, 87 people died in an arson attack, also located within the Bronxs. Sunday’s fire happened just days after 12 people, including eight children, were killed in a house fire in Philadelphia. The January 9th disaster was the biggest loss of life in a blaze in the city since that fire.