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A fire at an East Harlem housing project early Monday morning killed one woman and put her two children in the hospital.
The fire broke out shortly before 1 a.m. in a fourth-floor apartment at the James Weldon Johnson Houses.
Jeanette Montanez, 41, was killed in the fire. Her 11-year-old son, Jeremy, is listed in serious condition, and her 18-year-old daughter, Mallory, is in stable condition.
Relatives say Montanez tried to protect Jeremy by covering him with her body.
“My niece says, ‘When the alarm went off I heard it, but when I opened the door the house was filled with black smoke,’” said Diana Montanez, the victim’s sister.
That means the alarm did not go off quick enough.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire, but they do not consider it suspicious.
“Two days ago, she was with me, and now she's dead,” said Carmen Rodriguez, Montanez’s aunt. “I'm angry. I don't know why I'm angry, but I'm angry. I can't handle this.”
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