September 25, 2007
Fire Kills 3, From 3 Generations, in a Crowded House in Brooklyn
Neighbors heard the boy’s screams as he knelt on the burning rooftop, fire at his heels as smoke poured from the attic of his family’s Brooklyn home yesterday, witnesses said.
The boy, Marctyson Vixama, 15, escaped. But the fire, on East 19th Street, killed three of his relatives, from three generations of his family.
“He was yelling, ‘Help me, help me,’ ” said Vincent Bly, a neighbor. A few other neighbors were roused by the boy’s screams and saw him on the roof. Inside the attic and the second floor of the house, his relatives, including his grandmother, had been sleeping. The attic was engulfed by fire, witnesses said, and the boy was struggling to keep his balance as flames tore through the roof.
It was just past midnight, and by the time firefighters arrived, witnesses had rescued the boy.
Those who died were identified by relatives yesterday as Marie Valmey Vixama, 76, who was the grandmother and matriarch of the family; Crismene Vixama, 49, one of her daughters; and Bengino Dodard, 12, her grandson.
Bengino managed to call 911 before rushing up to the attic to help his family, the police said.
That quick thinking saved members of Bengino’s family, said Nivrose Duncan, an officer with the Police Department’s community affairs division. “But unfortunately, he became one of the victims. He ran back upstairs and got trapped.”
Bengino “was the only one who spoke English there,” said Rio Michel, 52, a relative. “Benji did it on his own.” Marctyson was saved because of that call, he added.
Marctyson Vixama suffered burns to his hands; he was listed in serious but stable condition at Kings County Hospital Center last night. Two other residents were treated for minor injuries at New York Community Hospital; four firefighters were treated for minor injuries at Kings County.
The cause of the fire was electrical, fire officials said, not caused by frayed wires or overloaded sockets but a “hard wiring” failure.
The victims were members of a large Haitian immigrant family, whose uncles, aunts, a grandparent and grandchildren shared the second floor and the attic of a Queen Anne-style house. There were smoke detectors on the first and second floors, fire officials said, but only the one on the first floor worked. The attic did not have a smoke alarm.
The tragedy is reminiscent of a fire that claimed 10 lives in March, when frayed wires were the source of a blaze in a poor neighborhood in the Bronx, where two large families of African immigrants had been living in very close quarters in one house.
The fire in Brooklyn yesterday was in a quiet, residential neighborhood with big homes and tree-lined blocks. But the quarters were just as tight as they were in the house in the Bronx.
Firefighters said there were 14 people in the house when the fire broke out, 11 of them related. Three other people rented out the first floor.
It was the second major fire at the house in recent years, neighbors and fire officials said. The first was on Dec. 29, 2000, and it, too, started in the attic and was electrical, relatives said.
Bengino Dodard’s parents, Bernie and Nanouse Dodard, both New York auxiliary police officers, own the house. They were issued three notices of violation yesterday for structural issues, including work without a permit, occupancy on the cellar level of the home and storing six unregistered vehicles in the backyard, officials at the Buildings Department said.
The Dodards were also issued a notice of violation in 1995 for occupancy and backyard parking issues, the officials said.
Yesterday, relatives of the victims seemed to be in shock, recalling better days they had shared and those they hoped to share in the future.
“My mother is full of life,” said Julienne Vixama, 54. “She’s always putting others before herself.”
Ms. Vixama sponsored her mother’s trip from Haiti to the United States in 1992. She said the family was close.
“I don’t know what to feel, what to think,” she said. “I wasn’t prepared for this.”
Relatives talked about Bengino’s last-ditch heroics to save his family and Marctyson’s harrowing escape. They spoke of Marie Valmey Vixama’s dedication to her family and the birthday party they were planning for Crismene Vixama, who was about to turn 50.
“They are great people,” Julienne Vixama said of her family. “They have good hearts. My mother always put her children first. And she loved her grandchildren. It’s very hard. And Benji is only 12 — he’s so young.”
Nicole Francis, 39, said she had lived next door to the family for 11 years. She said Bengino had fun, but he also had an industrious streak.
“He’d come over and help me with my yard work,” Ms. Francis said. “I can’t believe he died. He was spunky and friendly. He always wanted to work. He always wanted me to pay him. He was entrepreneurial.”
Students at the Excelsior Junior Academy, where Bengino was in the seventh grade, were visibly distraught yesterday after learning of their friend’s death. Counselors were hard at work trying to help them make sense of it all.
At school, Bengino was a jokester, a dancer who liked to play around, but he was also very disciplined, teachers said.
Brian King, who taught Bengino last year, said: “He has a lot of energy. He didn’t give me much trouble.”
“His parents loved him a lot,” Mr. King added. “They always checked up on him and made sure he was doing good.”
When told of Bengino’s last actions, Mr. King’s eyes welled up and he was unable to utter a word in response.
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Boy, 12, dies in fire trying to save grandmother 
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