An elderly tenant who died in a Queens basement fire was remembered Friday as a kind neighbor and family man who routinely walked his grandchildren to school.
Cops still had not officially released the 72-year-old victim’s name. But neighbors who knew him said he lived in the basement of the South Richmond Hill home he shared with his daughter and her family, and took his two grandkids to and from school each day, including Thursday when the fire later broke out around 5:15 p.m.
“He’s a nice guy,” said Rohan Ramdowe, who lives a few doors down from the fire scene, on 132nd St. near 95th Ave. “I was surprised to know what happened,” he said, calling it a shock to neighbors.
Officials said the fire started in the basement, where firefighters pulled out the badly burned victim before taking him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A firefighter and two other occupants suffered minor injuries, fire officials said.
Richard Toovey, who lives across the street, said he also saw firefighters carrying a disabled woman from the top floor of the home.
“Two of the firefighters grabbed the wheelchair on both sides and they bring her down,” he said.
Toovey said he didn’t see any smoke coming from the basement where the elderly victim was found, but saw water from the fire hoses gushing out of it.
“They had everything out in a short time,” he said.”
Ramdowe said the victim went through a divorce a few years ago and moved into the basement of the home.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire.