Queens, NY - One Killed in Apartment Fire on Sutphin Blvd

Queens, NY (January 22, 2024) - A fatal structure fire happened in Queens on Monday morning, January 22. 

At approximately 7:39 p.m., the incident occurred near 120-02 Sutphin Boulevard. Fire crews responded to the scene located on the first floor of an apartment building in Jamaica. EMS responded along with firefighters and police. When they arrived, they found an individual who had lost their life in the blaze. Additionally, a firefighter also sustained a minor injury. How the incident occurred remains under police investigation at this time. 

We want to offer our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased victim at this time. 

Nothing further has been reported concerning this structure fire in Queens.

New York Structure Fires

In New York City, from 2017 to 2022, there were approximately 4,000 structure fires throughout New York City’s 59 community districts. The first four months of 2022 yielded 74 serious structural fires per every 1,000 fires. Information provided by the National Fire Protection Agency shows that electrical distribution, lighting equipment, cooking, and heating equipment, along with intentional fire setting, are the top five reasons structure fires happen in homes and apartment buildings.

The NFPA responds to over 300,000 home structure fires each year. Approximately 2,700 people end up losing their lives in these fires while tens of thousands end up sustaining injuries. Additionally, billions of dollars in property damage occurs yearly due to these fires.

Smoke inhalation is the main reason people who end up caught in structure fires sustain injuries. Those who survive these instances often suffer a substantial amount of both smoke inhalation injuries and burn injuries. These are both exceptionally difficult to treat, as well as expensive.  

Most burn injuries are classified into one of three categories: 

• 1st-degree burns: 1st-degree burns affect only the top layer of skin (epidermis), such as you get from sunburn or accidentally touching a hot stove. These burns typically take a few days to heal.
• 2nd-degree burns: These burns reach the second layer of skin (dermis). More serious than a 1st-degree burn, it may require skin grafts and result in permanent scarring.  
• 3rd-degree burns: Burns of this magnitude ravage the third layer (hypodermis), causing the loss of not just the skin but also the sweat glands, hair follicles, and the stratum basale where new skin cells are formed.

Considering that roughly 80% of all fatalities related to fires are residential, it is obvious that it has become a major public safety problem to totally prevent them from occurring. Improper disposal of tobacco products is the number one cause of fatal residential fires, while cooking appliances, such as grills and stoves, are the number one cause of burn injuries in residential fires. 

Some of the other leading causes of New Jersey house fires include:  

• Defective appliances
• Obsolete or worn electrics
• Broken or incorrectly installed gas lines
• Obstructed chimney flues
• Faulty or broken furnaces or boilers

Our personal injury/premises liability attorneys at the law office of metrolaw.com/ work diligently to ensure families have their legal rights protected so they can move forward after a serious burn injury. Contact the burn injury lawyers in Queens at Metro Law by calling (800) 469-6476 to see how we can help you.