Cat on fire starts Bronx apartment blaze, leaving two people critical and five felines believed dead

nydailynews ^ | January 10, 2015 | Chauncey Alcorn

[dennisw]

Cat on fire starts Bronx apartment blaze, leaving two people critical and five felines believed dead Angel Alcazar was cooking pork chops inside his apartment on Gouverneur Ave. in Riverdale on Friday when a grease fire broke out, neighbors said. One of his cats caught fire and then ran around the home, setting everything it touched ablaze. Eleven residents were hospitalized and about a dozen were displaced.

Angel Alcazar -- the owner of six cats -- was cooking pork chops inside his apartment on Gouverneur Ave. in Riverdale at about 5 p.m. when a grease fire broke out, neighbors said.

As Alcazar tried to put out the blaze, at least one of his felines got too close and caught fire, they said. The torched tabby then ran around the home, setting everything it touched on fire.

"I looked outside my window ... I saw nothing but flames," said resident Theodore Oakes.

The fire quickly began consuming both the third and fourth floors of the building, which has 67 apartments, officials said.

Disabled tenant Suzanne Guthridge, 52, was sitting in her home down the hall when she smelled the smoke -- and the cry of a kitty.

"I opened the door for the cat," Guthridge said. "He came through and I shut it because the smoke was overwhelming. It was really scary.

"That whole area was full of smoke," she said. "It was unbelievable. You could feel the heat."

Five of the cats, including the one that was burned, are believed to have died.

[Revelation 911]

just so we are clear - i like cats - have had several.....and your point of dredging up a post from 02 is what?

[Rome2000]

Looks like the cat started the fire by spooking the cow!

[Revelation 911]

good heavens i re read that thread - what a riot - how did you find it?

[a fool in paradise]

You’re RIGHT!!!

Pictures don’t lie.

[dennisw]

by doing a search for “bungalow torpedo”