BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP/ 1010 WINS) -- A fire at a Bridgeport public housing complex early Friday killed a mother and her three young children as neighbors tried frantically to get them out, city fire officials said.
Firefighters responded to the P.T. Barnum complex about 1 a.m. and pulled the four victims from their apartment, breaking a window to get in as smoke poured out from under the locked door, Fire Chief Brian Rooney said.
City officials say 22-year-old Tiana Black, her 5-year-old son Myshawn Williams, and her 4-year-old twin daughters Niaoia Williams and Tiashia Williams died after unsuccessful efforts by emergency responders to revive them.
The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known, but Rooney said it started in the kitchen and produced heavy smoke. The blaze was declared under control in about 20 minutes, and damage was limited to the family's apartment.
Black's uncle, Ronald Black, said his niece worked at Goodwill Industries while attending school. He lives in an adjacent building in the complex and said he saw firefighters bring his niece and the children out and try to revive them.
``She got them to school. She made sure there was food in the house,'' Black said. ``She was a real good mom to them.''
He said Tiana Black's mother was leaving her home in Raleigh, N.C., and heading to Bridgeport on Friday.
Rooney said smoke alarms in the building went off and neighbors who heard them banged on the family's door to try to get them to come out. Firefighters found the woman and her two daughters in the living room and her son in an upstairs bedroom, Rooney said.
Some residents said they had safety concerns about the complex because there were no fire escapes and only one door from which to exit, but Rooney said that three-story building and the others in the complex are up to code.
He said fire escapes aren't required because all windows are close enough to the ground for firefighters to reach with a ladder truck.
The P.T. Barnum Apartments has 18 three-story brick buildings that each contain 20 units.
Freddie Padilla, 52, who grew up in the complex and now lives in another part of Bridgeport, said P.T. Barnum residents have been concerned ever since the fire escapes were removed during a renovation about 20 years ago.
``Everybody's in shock,'' he said of the deaths. ``They can't believe it, but people were worried it would happen sooner or later.''
Rooney said the family had visited a city firehouse just last week for fun and had their picture taken. When the smoke cleared early Friday, firefighters noticed that picture hanging on a wall in the apartment _ something that left them even more shaken after trying without success to rescue Black and her children, Rooney said.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said firefighters and neighbors of the family were extremely upset. The Bridgeport Housing Authority sent counselors and social workers to the complex Friday to comfort Black's friends and others in the large complex.
``The family was known to many people in this area,'' Finch said. ``This is a very tight-knit community here.''
E-Mail Story
Print Story
