6-Year-Old Aiden Hayward Dead, Father Hospitalized After Bronx High-Rise Fire
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 6-year-old boy has died and his father is in critical condition following a fire Friday at a Bronx high-rise.
About 24 hours after 6-year-old Aiden Hayward was found in a smoke-infested NYCHA hallway, just steps from the apartment he shared with his mother, crews cleaned up the remnants of the fire that took his life.
Neighbors are now devastated by his death.
"I was shocked. I almost lost my breath when they told me it was next door," neighbor Hazel Cunningham told CBS2's Kiran Dhillon.
Firefighters found Aiden and his 32-year-old father unconscious in the hallway of the building on East 135th Street in the Mott Haven section just after 5 p.m. Friday.
Police say they suffered from smoke inhalation while trying to escape the fire.
Aiden later died at the hospital.
Neighbors say the boy's father was often around and the mother and son had only moved in about a year ago.
"I see her going in and out, taking him to the bus, but that's it. I say hi ... She's real nice," Cunningham said. "She gave him a birthday party in the apartment, maybe six months ago."
Cunningham lives next door to the little boy.
She says when the fire started, she barricaded herself in her bedroom with her son for about an hour and a half. Since the building is fireproof, the FDNY says that was the right thing to do.
"All of a sudden, I saw smoke coming into my hallway, so I ran into the kitchen and my window was open, so I pulled that down, and put something down on my door, and then I went back to my back bedroom and I didn't come out," Cunningham said.
Investigators believe the fire started in the building's trash compactor, generating smoke that traveled up several stories.
They add Aiden's father was originally taken to Lincoln Hospital but was transported to the burn center at Jacobi Medical Center.
Eight other people, along with two firefighters, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Neighbors say they are praying for Aiden's family and for his father's full recovery.
"One hundred percent. I have to feel sad because, you know, this is our neighbor," one neighbor said.
Officials say they are still looking into how the trash compactor caught fire.
Meanwhile, NYCHA says it will not comment except to say it is working with the family to ensure it gets the services it needs during this difficult time.
CBS2's Kiran Dhillon contributed to this report.
