Ramon Velez (New York Post)
One woman is dead and three others are in critical condition — including the son of a late city councilman — after an early morning fire swept through a Bronx home, officials said.
Enriqueta Velez, 55, was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital, police sources said. Her husband, Ramon Velez — the son of former Bronx city councilman Ramon S. Velez — is in critical but stable condition at the same hospital, along with the dead woman’s 75-year-old mother and 5-year-old granddaughter.
The blaze started just before 4 a.m. on the second floor of the Swinton Avenue home in Throgs Neck as the family slept, according to the FDNY.
“I woke up when I heard glass breaking in the backyard,” said next door neighbor Mildred Velez, 82. “I looked outside and I saw all the firefighters breaking down the doors and windows and there was so much fire and smoke.”
Firefighters pulled the family out of the burning house and immediately started performing CPR trying to revive the four unconscious patients.
“They were working on the wife pretty hard but I guess they couldn’t save her,” Velez continued. “It’s terrible. It’s just so sad.”
One firefighter suffered minor injuries battling the flames.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to the FDNY.
Know by many as the “Fat Man,” Ramon S. Velez Sr. was an influential figure in helping Puerto Ricans earn their place in New York City politics. He died in 2008 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The anti-poverty magnate once earned the ire of former Mayor Ed Koch, who famously called the pol a “poverty pimp,” for his allegedly corrupt practices. Velez was often probed by the administration for corruption but was never found guilty of any wrongdoing.