A demolition crew discovered human skeletal remains inside the scorched ruins of a Queens home where a massive fire killed a 78-year-old woman and injured 22 others last month, officials said Thursday.
Workers found the “very decomposed” remains in the wreckage of the 41st Road building near College Point Blvd., more than three weeks after the deadly fire tore through the building on July 25, according to FDNY officials.
The crew immediately contacted authorities, and the city’s Medical Examiner moved swiftly to collect the remains ahead of heavy rains coming Thursday evening.
An autopsy has been slated to identify the victim and determine how they died.
An FDNY source said no one had been reported missing following last month’s fire. The source did, however, note that most of the tenants living in the building spoke Mandarin and there was a language barrier.
The NYPD is checking to see if the remains can be matched to any missing person reports, the source said.
The fatal blaze erupted at 9:50 a.m. on the first floor of the two-story home before spreading to two adjoining buildings, FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods said at the time.
The fire raged for most of the morning as firefighters tried their best to fight back the flames. The fire ultimately reached a fifth alarm, which brought roughly 270 first responders to the scene.
Photos posted to social media by the FDNY show heavy smoke billowing from the roof. Other videos show heavy flames as firefighters doused the blaze from outside.
“Many, many lives were saved over the proper position of those hose lines,” Chief Woods said. “Our members did a great job to prevent (the fire) from extending to additional buildings.”
Firefighters receiving a “report of people trapped in this building” managed to get above the fire to the second floor where, “under high heat and zero visibility,” they managed to find one of the two injured building residents, Woods said.
A 78-year-old woman who suffered serious injuries was taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens, where she died.
Another tenant suffered minor injuries, FDNY officials said. In addition, 17 firefighters and three EMS members were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries.