BRONX, N.Y. - Celinez and Sarah Bosque are thankful to be alive, but mourning the loss of their neighbor.

A fire tore through an apartment on their floor Monday morning, killing a 5-year-old boy who they say lives just down the hall.

What You Need To Know

  • A fire broke out in the Melrose Houses Monday morning

  • A 5-year-old boy who lived on the fifth floor was killed

  • A 38-year-old woman, believed to be his mother, is in critical condition

“The little boy would always run. He’d shoot out as soon as he’d come out of the door. He’d come over here and had a little bit of a speech impediment and he would sing his ABC’s over here,” said Celinez Bosque. 

The fire broke out on the fifth floor of the 15-story building at the Melrose Houses in the Bronx. 

Firefighters got the blaze under control, but couldn’t save the little boy, who was taken to the hospital. 

A 38-year-old woman, believed to be his mother, is in critical condition.

“He didn’t know how to say hi, but he would just say, ‘Ay, ay!’ Or, ‘Oh oh!’ said Celinez Bosque. “So sweet. So we cried tears, we’re praying that the mother made it.”

Damaged furniture could be seen tossed on the grass five stories below where the fire broke out.

The Bosque sisters say they saw the boys father outside after the smoke cleared, visibly distraught.

“When I saw the father put his hand in his head, I immediately knew it had to be that apartment. You know, with the holidays coming up, the COVID pandemic we’re dealing with still today, it’s difficult, you know. We’re like family here,” said Sarah Bosque. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.