BY BEN VERDE
A deadly inferno engulfed
a Park Slope apartment building
on Wednesday morning,
claiming the life of a fi refi
ghter-in-training and his
girlfriend, and shuttering a
recently-opened jazz club on
the building’s ground fl oor.
Authorities rushed to the
scene on Fifth Avenue between
Lincoln and St. Johns
places at around 2:07 am,
where New York’s Bravest
spent nearly an hour battling
the blaze that broke out on
the building’s fourth fl oor.
Andy Munoz — who had
been training to join the Fire
Department — was asleep
with his girlfriend Destiny
Marmoles when the fi re broke
out inside their apartment located
at the front of the building.
Firefi ghters, who had entered
the building through a
rear fi re escape, found the couple
already unconscious after
fi ghting through the blaze, according
to authorities.
Paramedics rushed the
victims to Methodist Hospital,
where doctors pronounced
COURIER L 6 IFE, JANUARY 24-30, 2020
Munoz dead. Marmoles
was pronounced dead
later in the afternoon.
A relative — who asked to
be identifi ed only as John —
claimed that Munoz was an
immigrant from the Dominican
Republic, who had just
started training to join the
Fire Department.
“He could have done anything
with his life,” said
John.
The ground fl oor of the
brownstone is home to the
Made in New York Jazz Club,
which opened just three
months ago — and the owner
says the building is so damaged
by the blaze that he has no
idea if he’ll be able to reopen.
“It all smells like barbecue,”
said Boris Bangiyev.
A next-door neighbor told
reporters that his six-year-old
Boston terrier woke him as
his room fi lled up with smoke,
and said he was thankful the
fi re didn’t spread throughout
the building.
“Their door being closed
probably saved all of our
lives,” said the neighbor, who
identifi ed himself as Joe.
Munoz death marks the
fi fth fi re-related fatality in
New York City since Monday,
according to authorities.
Throughout all of 2019,
the city saw 66 civilian fi re
deaths — marking a 25-percent
decline since 2018, according
to Fire Commissioner
Daniel A. Nigro.
Betty the Boston Terrier may have
saved her owner’s life.
Photo by Todd Maisel
Smoke eaters surveyed the damage the morning after the blaze.
Photos by Todd Maisel
Inferno on Fifth
Park Slope blaze kills two, shutters jazz club
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