A blaze on Staten Island that started with sex toys being set on fire in a backyard and then spread quickly destroyed the home of an 88-year-old woman and has left her living in terror, her family told the News.
“The first night she had a nightmare, she screamed really loud. She screamed so loud, I never heard someone scream like that,” said Angela, the daughter-in-law of 88-year-old Lilian. (She did not hsare her last name.)
“She’s talking to herself, like, I don’t understand,” said Angela. “Asking herself questions. She’s trying to understand.”
The blaze forced Liliane and her daughter, Sophia, to take refuge with Angela.
“I woke up crying,” said Sophia, “It’s not that it was luxurious, but it was mine. I had my stuff.”
Sophia, who was living in the West Brighton home as a caretaker to her mother, grew up there with her eight siblings. The structure is now drenched from the water used to put out the fire as well as charred. New furniture boxed in the basement has been flooded.
“She’s out of her routine,” Sophia said of her mother. “She’s 88 years old. I don’t even know how much more she can take. I’m afraid. I really am.”
Emma Seiwell / New York Daily News
Fire damage is seen at the home next door, where an 88-year-old woman escaped the flames. (Emma Seiwell / New York Daily News)
The fire, which authorities initially called “suspicious,” started around 3 p.m. Wednesday at a home on North Burgher Ave. near Wayne St. and quickly spread to two neighboring buildings, which were then extensively damaged, according to FDNY officials.
Harry Torres, 37 was charged with arson and reckless endangerment, according to the FDNY. Torres was arraigned Thursday and released without bail. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear how or why Torres set fire to the sex toys, which included a “rubber vagina,” according to a police source.
“I started the fire. I was in the backyard at my house and I lit two sex toys on fire,” Torres told investigators, according to a criminal complaint.
One neighbor said Torres seemed “a little off”.
“He lives here, in this house, upstairs on the second floor,” said a man who did not give his name. “He’s gonna have to be supervised to have somebody with him all the time, because you can’t just leave him by himself and trust him.”
Emma Seiwell / New York Daily News
Burned cars are seen on North Burgher Ave. in Staten Island after a man told authorities he tried to burn sex toys in his backyard. (Emma Seiwell / New York Daily News)
As the flames from the fire spread, it was none other than the family cat, Cyrus, who alerted the elderly woman to the blaze.
“The cat jumped down from its perch, which it never really does. It jumped down to listen, because he heard something. And it usually comes back, but he didn’t come back this time,” said Angela.
Liliane heard noises and feared someone was about to break in.
“There’s a window right there, and that window burst open and the flames came in. What she was hearing was probably the popping of the fire. The cat alerted her… She said the window broke open and the flames came into the house. She said it was red, that’s the color the flames were.
There were no injuries reported in the fire, which also damaged two vehicles, according to the complaint against Torres.
“People need to get help when they need it. If you’re in someone’s life and you know that their situation is evolving, you have to help. Especially when they could potentially endanger others. He became a danger to himself and others,” said Sophia.
With Rocco Parascandola
