sad news, Fire kills 8 children in NYC The fire was sparked by an overheated space heater near a mattress in a basement bedroom, then raced up a stairway pushed by air from broken back windows, said Fire Chief Salvatore Cassano. Most of the 22 residents — 17 of them children — were stranded on the upper floors as the blaze raged for two hours. The fire was sparked by an overheated space heater near a mattress in a basement bedroom, then raced up a stairway pushed by air from broken back windows, said Fire Chief Salvatore Cassano. Most of the 22 residents — 17 of them children — were stranded on the upper floors as the blaze raged for two hours. The victims included five children from one family, along with a wife and three other children from a second family. my thoughts are with them