Father of 3 children critically injured in Inwood fire: "If I lost them I wouldn't want to exist"

Three siblings and their mother are fighting for their lives after a fire in Inwood that already took the lives of three of their neighbors. 

Alexis Rodriguez's wife and three children are in critical condition in the hospital. 

"I might have lost everything"

"This is all I have," Rodriguez said. "If I lost them I wouldn't want to exist." 

Rodriguez was at work when the fire started at around 12:30 a.m. Monday. His 5-year-old daughter was unconscious when she was pulled from the burning building. His wife, 9-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter all had to be intubated due to smoke inhalation. 

"In this country, you work hard for what you don't have, and I might have lost everything. I might have lost my family, but I don't know until they are out of the hospital," Rodriguez said. 

"The 18-year-old, she's burned on the inside of her lungs, and they don't how long it's gonna take to recover," cousin Richard DeLeon said. 

Four of their neighbors were also hospitalized. Among the three people killed was entertainment journalist Yolaine Diaz. At least 30 residents are displaced. 

Some were allowed back inside Wednesday to pick up what was spared. New Yorkers who lost everything when their Dyckman Street apartment building went up in flames Monday sifted through donated clothes. 

"Its been certainly emotionally intense, but what's been wonderful is seeing the community come together to support these families," Father Gawain Deleeuw said. 

The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire. There are no arrests. 

Court documents show the Department of Housing Preservation previously sued the owner of the building over "unsafe conditions as part of an intentional and aggressive campaign to harass and displace rent-stabilized tenants.