Chelsea fire claims life of elderly woman

Firefighters assembled outside 246 W. 18th St. between Seventh and Eighth Avenues on Wednesday morning, where a fire took the life of one elderly woman.

By Jefferson Siegel

A 96-year-old woman died when a fire broke out in her Chelsea apartment just before noon on Wednesday.

Hattie Pifer was found dead in her second-floor rear apartment at 246 W. 18th St., between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. A charred wheelchair was next to her body, officials said.

The blaze moved quickly through the apartment, helped by large piles of newspapers, blankets and clothes that slowed firefighters, according to officials.

As the fire raged, Pifer’s 70-year-old son and roommate, Ike, was identified on the street by neighbors, where he stood across from the building watching helplessly.

Within minutes of receiving the 11:45 a.m. alarm, as smoke poured from the rear of the building, firetrucks from Ladders 12 and 24, Engine 3 and Squad 18 filled the street. Firefighters then entered the building through the ground-floor entrance and climbed ladders onto the roof.

“The first units made a heroic effort to push the fire from the hallway,” said FDNY Deputy Chief John Bley of the firefighters who arrived on the second-floor landing. They found the fire inside the apartment more difficult, however. Once it was knocked down, they found Pifer.

Fire officials said Pifer’s apartment suffered severe damage. An apartment above it on the third floor was said to have suffered smoke damage.

Eye-witnesses looked on with concern.

“We saw schoolchildren looking out their windows,” said Maria Cania, an associate at the Allstate Insurance office directly across the street from the building. Cania said she saw smoke pouring out from the rear of the building, which is next door to Liberty High School. Students were evacuated safely from the school and walked west one block, gathering in front of the School for the Humanities.

“I saw firemen open windows without breaking them, and I saw a man coming down the fire escape,” Cania added.

“Her [Pifer’s] son took really good care of her,” said Jennie Rossello as she stood on the sidewalk watching firefighters exit the building. Rossello has lived in the building three years. “They take care of the building,” she said of the landlord.

Rossello, a television director, was at work when a neighbor called. By mid-afternoon fire marshals were inspecting the building floor-by-floor to determine if residents on unaffected floors could safely return to their homes. Fire officials believe the five-story brick walk-up with a dozen apartments is at least 100 years old.