Family Dines, Unaware Grandma Is Burning Up

**Dakota Valkyrie** · February 2nd, 2012, 11:23 AM

A fire broke out early Thursday in a two-story home in South Jamaica, killing a beloved grandmother while her family dined downstairs, unaware of the blaze.

Elaine Spencer, 69, was found in the front bedroom of her apartment, Deputy Fire Chief Joe Schiralli said.

"She was found next to the bed," Schiralli said. "The daughter and son-in-law were downstairs having dinner and didn't know there was a fire."

Fire officials got the call to the home at 146-03 120th Ave. at midnight. They arrived to find the second floor of the small, two-family home consumed by flames.

Jessica Banks, a relative who lives nearby, said her second cousin, Sharon Smith, Smith's husband, Andre Perry, and their 11-year-old child Leah Perry, had no idea the house was on fire until a neighbor knocked on their door and told them.

"Everybody was about to go to sleep," Banks said. "A friend of the family came to the house and started to yell 'fire.'"

Rickey Anderson said he and another man rapped on the door, then bolted up the stairs to Spencer's apartment and tried to get in but were halted by smoke and heat.

"The flames were so severe," said Anderson, 55. "I'm not Superman, but I wish I could've got in there."
[...]

Schiralli said the fire was doused soon after about 70 firefighters responded to the scene, but the entire second floor of the home was gutted. The Red Cross made arrangements for the family to sleep elsewhere.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1015862

**Valasca** · February 2nd, 2012, 11:42 AM

Wait, what? No screaming, no noises to be heard, no smell of smoke?
Something is not right.

**Aspasia** · February 2nd, 2012, 12:11 PM

When I was 14, we had a house fire that gutted the entire second floor of the house. We never smelled or heard a thing. Smoke drifts upward not downward. Most folks are knocked out by carbon monoxide & never have a chance to scream. We were clueless until a neighbor yelled "fire." I've always been thankful that there was no loss of life, (which would of likely been mine), just property damage. The cause of the fire was a record hot day in August, an electrical outlet blew up in my bedroom about a foot from where I slept. We never heard the smoke alarm go off. The fire department said that it was such an intense heat that the thing melted & may or may not have ever gone off.

**Obsolete** · February 2nd, 2012, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by Aspasia

When I was 14, we had a house fire that gutted the entire second floor of the house. We never smelled or heard a thing. Smoke drifts upward not downward. Most folks are knocked out by carbon monoxide & never have a chance to scream. We were clueless until a neighbor yelled "fire." I've always been thankful that there was no loss of life, (which would of likely been mine), just property damage. The cause of the fire was a record hot day in August, an electrical outlet blew up in my bedroom about a foot from where I slept. We never heard the smoke alarm go off. The fire department said that it was such an intense heat that the thing melted & may or may not have ever gone off.

The same thing happened to my great aunts house. They had 12 kids and a huge 2 story house. The entire upstairs was engulfed in flames while they all sat downstairs for their nightly bible study. 14 people in that house and not a single one knew there was a fire blazing away.

**Jerri Blank** · February 2nd, 2012, 09:35 PM

A old colonial home my husband and I owned for about 10 years had some serious jacked up electrical problems (among many other issues) and we had a fire in the attic that burned and some how went out leaving a huge hole and we slept through it and no one around seen smoke. It really was huge and I have no idea how it went out but I believe if it didn't we would be dead.

**malq** · February 3rd, 2012, 12:05 PM

Every good rule in the electrical code is there for a good reason. People who circumvent the rules without knowing what they are doing are asking for it. Age will do it too. A prudent thing to do every 10 years is have a good residential electrician go thru and see if he can find anything. No one ever does though.

I suppose the best thing is have fire sensors that go off when they are supposed to. Hook them up to a siren if you have to.

**malq** · February 12th, 2012, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Obsolete

The entire upstairs was engulfed in flames while they all sat downstairs for their nightly bible study.

Jesus christ that sounds scary!

**62julietandvoid** · February 12th, 2012, 02:13 PM

We had a fire happen while we all slept back when I was like 6 or 7. My uncle was the only on below it, he was bunking in the basement right below the fire. My sister remembers sleeping in the same room as the fire and my uncle heard her begging the fire not to burn her but was unaware of why he never checked to see wtf was going on. I awoke to my eyes burning and the room was filled with smoke to halfway down or more. No other adults woke up until I got up to see why light was dancing off the door and of course smoke burning my eyes. Is why smoke alarms are soooo good.

In 10th grade a little 2 or 3 year old girl was killed in a fire that started in her bedroom ( rumor was she was playing with a lighter) while her mom was in the basement doing some laundry. You would think at the very least you'd hear crackling of wood but fires seem to be silent killers until they get big enough to devour everything but by then it might be too late. Smoke alarms

**Shadow** · February 12th, 2012, 02:53 PM

We lived in an old Victorian, when I was 10. It was 2 weeks before Christmas. The fire started in my room from bad wiring. My brother and I were jumping on the bed, and he fell off the side, grabbing an extension cord (back then, they were called 'drop cord'(s)). The cord came apart and sparks flew out of the broken cord and set the bed and a blanket on the floor on fire. My sister was in the bathroom at the time, in the tub. (she was 3ish). My brother and I ran out, and I went around the back to alert everyone in the back of the old house that our apartment was on fire. When I came back around to the front, my brother was just standing there, with the baby sitter. My little sister was trapped inside, in the bathroom. I ran around to the front and up the stairs screaming Fire!! Fire!!! trying to do like we were taught in school, to alert *everyone* inside the old house. When I came back down, I could hear the fire trucks. When the fire department got there, I told them my sister was still inside, in the bathroom. I took them around the side of the house to show them the bathroom window where she was. They chopped through the wall, to get to her and brought her out, cold but safe. We didn't have a smoke detector, but mind you, this was 35yrs ago. We lost everything we owned in that fire, but no lives were lost. The fire department put the fire out soon after. The next several weeks were the worst for us. The blessing in it, though it was difficult for us to see it at first, we came to realize that we'd been given a chance to start over. About 6 months later, we moved to a different state, Mom got a job and we got a new start.

I am sorry that a life was lost in this article. How difficult that must've been for the family. I hope the family is able to recover from this.

~shadow