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by COREY KILGANNON
A 2-year-old girl and her mother and grandmother were killed yesterday morning in a fire that swept through a Queens house that was home to 13 members of an extended family, witnesses and the authorities said. Nine firefighters were injured, and a fourth family member was critically injured.
Firefighters were called to the house, in Queens Village, at 5:52 a.m., according to Fire Department officials. The blaze drew a large response, with about 130 firefighters and 30 fire vehicles at the scene.
A neighbor, Monica Codrington, said she called 911 after a man trapped in the burning house jumped from a second-story window and crawled next door, shirtless and bloody, to knock on her door. "He said: 'Please help, call 911. My house is on fire,' " recalled Ms. Codrington. "Then he crawled out into the street and collapsed. He was bleeding from his mouth."
Most of the relatives were home yesterday morning but escaped the fire. Many had been sleeping on mattresses on the floor when the fire broke out, said a fire marshal at the scene, Randall Wilson.
The cause of the fire, which started on the first floor, is under investigation, Mr. Wilson said, but faulty electrical wiring or a malfunctioning air-conditioner may be to blame.
Ms. Codrington identified the dead child as Alicia Shepherd, and said that she had baby-sat for Alicia since the girl was 2 months old. She identified the other victims as Melvina Shepherd, 23, the girl's mother, and Maryanne Shepherd, 46, her grandmother. They and their relatives lived in a frame house at 102-31 216th Street, near 102nd Avenue, not far from the Belmont Park racetrack.
The firefighters' injuries were minor, and they were all treated at hospitals and released, the department said.
Ms. Codrington said that Ms. Shepherd and her husband, Melvin Shepherd, 28, had lived in the house since immigrating from Africa about four years ago. Ms. Shepherd was a housekeeper at a Manhattan hotel and Mr. Shepherd is a nurse at a Bronx hospital, she said. Maryanne Shepherd, was Mr. Shepherd's mother.
The Shepherds were planning to move next month with their daughter, a month shy of 3, into a house in Jamaica, Queens, that they had bought and were renovating.
"They were so excited about that," Ms. Codrington said.
She identified the man who jumped out of the window as Yull Shepherd, a cousin of Mr. Shepherd's. He was in critical condition yesterday at North Shore University Hospital/Manhasset, said Christina Verni, a spokeswoman for the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
Neighbors described a scene of chaos and despair as the fire raced through the house.
"The flames were shooting out of the windows like a torch," said one, George Johnson, 66, who lives across from the Shepherds. He said he tried to reach the front door of the house to help but could not get near it because of the heat and flames.
Ms. Codrington said that Melvin Shepherd, outside the house, yelled to arriving firefighters, "Please, there are three of them in the house."
Firefighters later carried two adult-size bodies and one small one out of the house, neighbors said. Mr. Shepherd threw himself on the street and rolled around, screaming. He was taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, where he was treated and released. The fire gutted the home, leaving scorched walls, piles of blackened debris and charred mattresses. The house's powder-blue vinyl siding was melted like icing on a cake.
Ms. Codrington said the Shepherds had spent Monday evening at her house watching Rambo movies.
The fire was brought under control at 6:45, said a Fire Department spokesman, Adrian Deronja.
Abeer Allam contributed reporting for this article.
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