Thomas Tracy – New York Daily News
(TNS)
A 61-year-old woman was killed when a fire tore through her Queens bungalow, police and fire officials said Tuesday.
The blaze broke out in the small one-story home on Beach 109th St. near Betty Court in the Rockaways about 3:30 p.m. on Monday, officials said.
Arriving firefighters found victim Maryann Traynor unconscious in the home.
Her husband, Jack Traynor, 83, was still in shock Tuesday afternoon.
“I can’t even process anything at the moment. I’m just lost for words. I couldn’t even think straight to talk to anybody, really,” he said.
Maryann Traynor died at the scene. The fire was put out within a few minutes of firefighters arriving. No other injuries were reported.
The victim’s husband was not in the house when the fire broke out. “I got there probably about eight minutes after the fire was out,” he said.
FDNY fire marshals are investigating what sparked the blaze.
Jack Traynor was baffled about how the fire could have started. “I don’t know,” he said. “Fire marshals haven’t notified me yet. It’s all in process. I have no idea. No idea whatsoever.”
Maryann Traynor and her husband were married for 17 years. It was the second marriage for both of them.
The victim worked as a home health aide and had survived a bout with breast cancer, her husband said.
Jack Traynor is now staying with neighbors across the street from his ruined house.
It was the second fatal fire in the city in five days.
On Thursday, a 34-year-old Bronx man died when a lithium-ion battery charging in the kitchen of his Beaumont Ave. apartment caught fire.
Responding firefighters found the victim unconscious and rushed him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he later died.
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