Suffolk County Apartment Fire Kills 71-Year-Old Woman
CORAM, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A 71-year-old woman was killed as she tried to escape an early Tuesday morning fire at her apartment complex in Suffolk County.
Investigators told CBS2's Marc Liverman they think a big chunk of burning debris may have fallen on her.
Police said the initial call came in at around 2:30 a.m., directing them to the Fairfield Courtyard Apartments on Country Club Road in Coram.
There was chaos as neighbors hugged and held each other. For them, there was nothing they could do but stand back and watch helplessly.
"I thought it was an earthquake," neighbor Emily Cordes said.
"I saw smoke coming up from by my staircase," resident Dotty Carpin said. "It was coming up pretty fast."
Carpin was in the complex as the fire quickly took over everything. She said she made it out on her own.
"The front of the building was just engulfed in flames. Like to get out you had to really take a chance," Carpin said.
Susan Harelick, a resident in apartment 7D, took that chance, but was unable to make it out. She was found dead inside the building after the smoke cleared.
"She got out. Right outside the door there was a little overhang. It looked like some debris from the overhang of the structure losing its integrity fell on top of her. She was either crushed by the debris or she (succumbed) to smoke inhalation," said Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad.
Carpin was left grieving the loss of a neighbor and a friend, as she waited to see if her complex has another apartment for her to move into.
"She's just a good person. I didn't see her that much, but when I did we used to clean off her car in the wintertime, the snow, because she had COPD, just to help her because she needed it. She had nobody else that I know of," Carpin said.
The building was destroyed. There wasn't much left of the top floor and the siding just burned away.
There was no official word on how the fire started, but investigators said they don't think it was suspicious.
The Red Cross was on scene to assist residents displaced by the fire.
