He was the bravest 8-year-old in the city.
Tyanthony Duckette escaped the flames engulfing his Queens home — then ran back inside in a heroic, but tragically futile, attempt to save his baby brother. Both boys died.
“He’s a little hero,” said the kids’ grandfather, Andrew Wilson. “He’s only 8 years old, but he would do anything for his brothers and sisters.
“They’re all very, very close. He was a kid who was dedicated to his siblings. He always looked out for them.”
The fast-moving blaze broke out at 141-45 182nd St. in Springfield Gardens at 9:20 a.m. while the children’s mother, Sonia Wilson, was taking three of her six kids to school.
Their grandmother, Carlota Wilson, had carried Tyanthony and his 10-year-old sister, Tyanne, to safety. But she was unable to find their 17-month-old brother, Daniel Wilson.
When little Tyanthony realized the toddler was still inside, he bolted from his grandmother and ran back in through the flames.
Their mother returned to see the house ablaze and desperately tried to get inside.
Carrie Nelson, a neighbor, saw firefighters holding back the hysterical mother.
“They wouldn’t let her go in,” Nelson said. “She was screaming, ‘My kids are in there!’ [The kids] were lifeless when they were pulled out.”
Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said, “Both were burned, but the older one was the worst. They [EMS] were working really hard on them.”
The two kids were pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.
Next-door neighbor Azubike Chikezie, 42, remembered them as sweet kids.
“They would always play peek-a-boo from their window. They were my play buddies. It’s very upsetting that I won’t be able to do that anymore,” he said.
Fire marshals were investigating the cause but focused on “a lighting fixture that came into contact with common items in the bedroom, like clothing, bedspreads and other combustibles,” an official said.
It did not appear there were smoke detectors in the apartment.
Angela Phillips, 26, who is the house’s second-floor tenant, and her 17-month-old baby were also taken to Jamaica for observation.
At the hospital, Tyanthony’s and Daniel’s mom fought back tears as she spoke about the awful day.
“I have two girls and two boys left,” she said. “He [Tyanthony] went to get back his baby brother.”
Tyanthony, she said, “was one of the five top students at his school.”
Daniel, she said, “was just an active 1-year-old. We went to the park yesterday. I was cradling Daniel and wouldn’t have thought that would be the last time.”
City Councilman James Sanders Jr. appealed for help to cover funeral costs and the expenses of moving to a new home. Anyone who wants to donate should call his office at (718) 527-4356.