May 6 (UPI) — Dominican journalist Yolaine Díaz, a former fashion and beauty editor for People en Español magazine, and her mother died in a fire at a residential building in New York City that also left a third person dead, 14 injured and more than 100 displaced.
The fire began shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday in a six-story building on Dyckman Street near Broadway in the Inwood section of Manhattan, according to the Fire Department of New York and the New York City Police Department.
Díaz, 49, had emigrated from the Dominican Republic to New York City as a teenager and studied journalism at Lehman College in the Bronx. She joined People en Español as an intern and later worked as a fashion and beauty writer and digital editor. During her career, she interviewed celebrities including Eva Longoria, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.
Former editor-in-chief Armando Correa remembered Díaz, who continued to contribute to the magazine, in a statement that read “Yolaine had a unique authenticity and intensity. I want to remember her always camera-ready, with her style and her smile.”
According to People en Español, Díaz and her mother, Ana Mirtha Lantigua, attempted to escape through the building’s interior stairwell, but smoke blocked the exit and both became trapped. The journalist’s stepfather managed to flee through the exterior fire escape.
Authorities said the flames started on the lower levels of the building and quickly spread through the interior stairwell to the roof. More than 200 firefighters were deployed to contain the blaze.
The fire left scenes of chaos among residents, many of them members of Latino families living in the mixed residential and commercial building, which was constructed in 1910.
“I was sleeping and what woke me up was the smell and the alarms,” resident Michael Jimenez told local media. “When I went to open the hallway door, everything was on fire. There wasn’t time to grab the extinguisher or anything.”
Another resident told WNYW-Ch. 5 she had to flee via the fire escape after a neighbor opened the hallway door and found “black smoke as far as the eye could see.”
Marty Mejia, of the New York Fire Foundation, said one of the main mistakes during the evacuation was leaving doors open, which allowed the fire and smoke to spread rapidly throughout the building, according to reports by NBC New York.
Firefighters said apartments whose doors remained closed sustained minimal damage, in line with public safety campaigns begun after another deadly fire in the Bronx days earlier.
The American Red Cross assisted evacuees with blankets and logistical support, while dozens of families remained at hospitals awaiting news about injured relatives, some suffering from burns.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. According to The New York Times, the city’s housing department database listed more than 100 violations at the building.
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