A 22-year-old man has died a week after he ran back into his burning Queens home to rescue his mother — not realizeing she had already escaped — and suffered severe burns to 99% of his body, his heartbroken family said Wednesday.
Thet “Alex” Aung Oo died Tuesday from complications from the burns he suffered in the massive Feb. 9 inferno that engulfed his Elmhurst home on Dongan Ave. near Broadway.
His family had held out hope he would survive beore receiving a heartbreaking call from the hospital, his brother, Phyo Ko, told the Daily News.
“It was around 3:37 a.m.,” Ko said. “From all the time he was in the hospital, there was no movement, nothing at all — he was unconscious. Around 2 a.m., his blood pressure started rising. Doctors tried CPR, but they couldn’t save him. We got the call from the doctors and when we got there like half an hour later he was already gone.”
A 34-year-old mother and her 17-day-old daughter who lived in the basement below Oos’ family’s apartment also died in the blaze, FDNY officials said. Ten survivors needed medical treatment, including Oo and three firefighters who suffered minor injuries, officials said.
On the night of the blaze, firefighters found Miguelina Alcantara, 34, in a flooded basement but not her infant daughter, Emma. The newborn was found a few days later when firefighters began removing debris from the basement. Part of the ceiling had collapsed, making a search difficult, FDNY officials said.
Oo meanwhile, was fighing for his life. In addition to the burns covering almost his entire body, his lungs were filled with smoke and doctors were concerned his heart and kidneys might fail.
More than $51,000 was raised on a GoFundMe seeking donations to help Oo’s family pay for medical expenses. The money raised helped with Thet’s funeral, which was held Wednesday, his brother said.
“He was loved by many,” Ko said.
Alyssa Jensen, the fiancée of Oo’s boss in Manhattan’s Diamond District who organized the GoFundMe, wrote that Thet showed “extraordinary strength” in his fight to live.
“His injuries were too severe,” she said. “While our hearts are shattered, we find comfort in knowing he is no longer in pain.”
“Alex was the most amazing person — the sweetest, kindest, and most selfless soul,” Jensen added. “He went back into the burning home to make sure his parents were safe, and that act alone speaks to the character he carried every day of his life.”
FDNY officials on Wednesday were still trying to determine what sparked the massive blaze. Building code enforcement critics, including local City Councilman Shekar Krishnan, have pointed to possible illegal subdivision as a contributing factor in the fire and deaths.
Residents said there were three or four bedrooms in the basement housing people from different families, including Alcantara and her daughter.
The fire spread to two neighboring homes, damaging them as well.
The building that was destroyed and the two others that were damaged were authorized for a total of eight apartments but they housed 14 families, officials said. The fire left about 45 people homeless, officials said.
Oo’s family lived on the first floor of the house where the fire started.
“My parents started smelling the smoke, so my mother went out to find out what happened,” Ko said. “My brother didn’t know whether she was in the building or not. Confusion happened and he went back in.”
When Oo came back out, “he was naked and his body was completely on fire,” Ko said. “He started rolling in the snow, ice and then the firefighters carried him to the ambulance.”
On Sunday, less than a week after the Dongan Ave. fire and just half-a-mile away, 83-year-old Lou Best died in a blaze inside his apartment on 78th St. near Broadway.
The cause of that fire is also still under investigation.
When firefighters arrived, they found a frozen hydrant and another that was blocked by a parked vehicle, FDNY Deputy Chief Jeff Meister said at the scene.
“There seems to be an issue throughout the city where residents are parking on hydrants,” Meister told reporters. “When vehicles are parked on a hydrant, it definitely impedes our operation and slows everything down.”
Best’s wife, Zaida Valera, was at work when the 7:15 p.m. blaze broke out.
“Every time I go to work he say, ‘Oh you’re gonna leave me all alone again?’ So I just tell him, ‘Watch TV and talk to the TV,’” Valera told 1010 WINS. “I was really busy. I’m missing him now.”
Best lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side before moving to Queens.
Gregory Maro, Best’s neighbor for 30 years, said the octogenarian loved to travel, mostly to China.
“I’d watch his apartment when he was away,” Maro said.
“Oh my god. I hope she’s okay,” he said of Best’s wife.
FDNY officials said that 18 people have died in fires across the city so far this year. By this time last year, 14 people had died in fires.
With Sheetal Banchariya
