An 80-year-old Bronx grandmother who relied on a wheelchair died after a fire tore through her apartment near East 169th Street and Morris Avenue last Thursday, her family says. Ana Serrano was pulled from the blaze and taken to BronxCare Health System in critical condition before relatives say she was pronounced dead close to midnight the next day. Family members say her mobility limitations and existing respiratory problems left her unable to evacuate.
Her son, Isaí Serrano, told the New York Daily News that “right before I left I gave her the strongest hug,” and later learned first responders had found her in her wheelchair. He said the family kept an oxygen tank at home and that one of her lungs was not fully functioning; relatives also said Ana suffered from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative nerve and muscle disorder that limited her mobility.
Home oxygen can make fires far deadlier
Research from the National Fire Protection Association shows that fires involving home oxygen equipment…..