Ditmas Park Fire Kills 'Loving' Father of 2

• Pictured: Abiel Harry. Photo via Facebook

DITMAS PARK, BROOKLYN — A Ditmas Park house fire early Monday morning killed a 37-year-old father of two.

Abiel Harry, 37, died of smoke inhalation caused by a blaze at 106 Marlborough Rd., according to his mother, Althea Gaines, who was also in the house but survived unharmed.

"He was very dedicated to his children," Gaines said of her son Monday, fighting back tears in front of the home. "He was very kind. He was very loving. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for anyone."

Gaines said she and Abiel had been visiting her brother, Lennox, who owned the stately Marlborough Road home.

106 Marlborough Rd. on Monday, after the fire.

Lennox, 64, suffered from Alzheimer's disease, Gaines said — so she and Abiel would periodically visit from Pennsylvania, where they lived.

The fire was called in shortly before 5 a.m., and was under control by 5:30 a.m., according to the FDNY.

Gaines said she never saw flames. Instead, "I woke up to the smoke," she said. "I tried to get my brother out of the house. I called for my son. I couldn't find my son."

Gaines said she and her brother escaped the home unharmed, but that Abiel was found in a basement kitchen.

According to the NYPD, he was unresponsive, and was taken by emergency medical responders to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to the FDNY, but Gaines said the home didn't have smoke detectors, a statement confirmed Monday by FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer.

"I didn't know that, and because my brother has Alzheimer's, I don't think he knew that," Gaines said.

Dwyer said that 75 percent of fatal fires in the city involve properties without working smoke alarms.

Additionally, Gaines said Abiel made candles in the home as a hobby.

Abiel was in the process of obtaining custody of his children, she said, and was buying a larger house in Williamsport, PA, to accommodate them.

When he was in New York City, he delivered food for Postmates, an on-demand delivery company, she said.

According to Gaines, Abiel had planned to return to Williamsport on Monday.