New York – Fire officials say that their initial investigation into a fatal apartment fire has shown significant equipment ‎failures. In addition, protocols meant to prevent such tragic disasters were not properly followed. The ‎deadly fire in a residential housing building in the Bronx claimed the lives of at least 17 fire victims. Of ‎these victims, reports show that 8 of them were children who died in the fire. Investigators note that ‎the initial cause of the accidental fire was a faulty malfunctioning heater that was left on after ‎residents left the apartment. The portable electric faulty heater apparently shorted and sparked, ‎causing it to catch on fire. Public safety experts say that sale of such a dangerous product should be ‎banned, as it easily can contain defective parts. The use of such a well-known fire-prone heating ‎device has long been discouraged, especially when used in a room that in unattended. Safety ‎protocols say that such a device should be turned off when one leaves the area in order to prevent a ‎dangerous situation that can lead to melting, malfunction and fires. ‎

Spread of the deadly smoke from the fire was caused when the automatic closing arm of the door was ‎broken. That equipment failure led to the quick envelopment of the building in smoke that suffocated ‎multiple residents. Firefighters reported that they found several of the smoke inhalation victims ‎collapsed in the stairwells. Safety experts say that building codes normally include venting of potential ‎smoke from a building fire out of the stairwells. They explain that this is important to provide a mode ‎of egress from a multi-story building fire like this one. See this article for more information and videos ‎about the equipment malfunctions and errors that led to these multiple fire deaths.‎

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo Credit via Mike Goad [License]