On Thursday morning, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson called Jan. 9, 2022 "a fateful day." 

"It's one that we will never forget," Gibson said.

It's been three years since a malfunctioning space heater ignited a blaze that led to a five-alarm fire in the Bronx that's been called one of the worst residential fires in the country in the past four decades. 

Self-closing doors that should have shut did not, allowing smoke to rapidly rise throughout the Twin Parks North West apartment complex, a major factor behind the high death toll of 17 people.

"Each year we get together, it is a painful reminder for every family member and loved one whose lives were forever changed," Gibson said at a wreath-laying ceremony at Bronx Borough Hall. "An unimaginable pain and heartbreak truly reminds us that three years later, we will never forget."

"No one can ever imagine what it looks like to be in a place and see 17 coffins at the same time," added Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.

Five of those coffins were for family members of Haji Dukuray. He lost his niece, her husband and their three kids, ages 12, 11, and 5.

“I had to place her in the grave," Dukuray said of the 5-year-old, choking back tears. "And that was my first time touching a lifeless person. The feelings and emotions that went through me that day, I dont want any other family or any person to go through that.”

But as difficult as the anniversary is, family members and elected leaders in the Bronx say there is something they’re grateful for.

Several pieces of legislation were passed after the disaster in an effort to prevent similar tragedies. 

City law now requires the self-closing doors at 300 high-risk buildings be inspected each year. A state law mandates space heaters sold have thermostats and an automatic shutoff feature. And a federal law now in place mandates a team from the U.S. Fire Administration investigate any site where a similar fire occurs.

Dukuray says it means their loved ones did not die in vain.

"The pain that we went through as a family," he said. "Knowing that hopefully no other family will go through the same pain, and we are grateful for that."

"We have to continue to do the work in the Bronx as elected officials and as officials in government to make sure that that never happens again," Clark added.