This morning, there was a fire in the Bronx. A house fire that killed nine, eight of them children. The report said that there were two smoke detectors in the house, neither of them had batteries. It also said that space heaters were plugged into power strips that were “overloaded”. Precious time was wasted by the residents who tried to fight the fire before calling it in. The father of the family is reported to be in Africa. Officials are trying to locate him and bring him home. A spokesman for the fire department said that basic precautions were not taken; bedroom doors were not closed, a door to the outside was open, at least one window was open. The implication was that resulting drafts allowed more oxygen to accelerate the spreading of the flames. Neighbors reported seeing a chair thown through a window and children being thrown from windows as well. So far there is no report regarding the number of people living in the house, or the number that may have survived. Law requires a landlord to have the smoke detectors inspected once a year, and the batteries to be replaced, but that wouldn’t stop a resident from taking them out to use for some other purpose after the inspection. And anyway, it may be the case that the inhabitants were not renters. If there were illegal immigrants in the house they may have wanted to avoid calling the fire department for fear of drawing attention to themselves. Perhaps for want of four batteries, and for fear of raising one’s head, nine people are dead.
An eyewitness spoke to a reporter. She said there were “children being thrown from the windows, and there were fire trucks, and helicopters, and then there was chaos and death.” She went on to say that they, the residents, were people “who minded they business.” They were people who minded their business, what does that mean?
