Deadly Brownsville Fire Kills 3: How to Support the Survivors

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — After a horrific fire in Brownsville killed a 1-year-old baby and his 40-year-old aunt, members of the victims' family are raising money to help rebuild their lives.

Angel Ortiz, the daughter of Alexandra Ortiz, the 40-year-old who was killed in the fire, started a GoFundMe to help her family start repairing their lives after their entire apartment was burned down.

"My name is Angel Ortiz, i want to raise money to help my little siblings and I, Our apartment got burned down, We lost our mother, little cousin, and dog. We will use to the money to for needs such as clothes, furniture and etc. This would mean alot to us," the GoFundMe says.

So far, the fundraiser has reached $1,830 in 6 days. The goal is $10,000.

The fire broke out on the morning of Dec. 14 on the 13th and top floor of a Brownsville high-rise building in the Howard Houses complex on Mother Gaston Boulevard, killing the 1 -year-old Ivan Baez and 40-year-old Alexandra Ortiz, police said.

On the Monday after the fire, local elected officials and community members held a press conference led by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams calling for a new burn unit to be built in Brooklyn.

There is currently no place in Brooklyn to treat burns. Burn victims in Brooklyn are sent to Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, or Staten Island University Hospital North.

Adams said that Ortiz suffered smoke inhalation that would have been treatable at a burn center.

The cause of the fire was an accidental electrical incident relating to a refrigerator, according to an FDNY spokesperson.

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