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Fire Kills Disabled Woman In Her Brooklyn Apartment
A disabled woman died yesterday in a fire inside her locked Brooklyn apartment as neighbors struggled to free her.
The victim, Rory Hackett, 52, lived alone in a ground-floor studio apartment at 2200 Ocean Avenue, a seven-story red brick building in SheepsheadBay. Neighbors said that she moved in 15 years ago to care for her ailing mother, who later died, and that Ms. Hackett had told them that she herself had multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.
The neighbors said Ms. Hackett was a frail, friendly woman who greeted passers-by from the steps of the building, where she liked to sit and smoke.
''She never bemoaned her fate,'' said Charlotte Evinski, who added that she had known Ms. Hackett for years. ''She loved everybody. She's a sweetheart. Everybody loved her.''
The building superintendent, Birol Suzer, 40, said he smelled smoke coming from Ms. Hackett's apartment around 10:15 a.m. and had tried to open her door, but it was locked. At the same time, a neighbor, Liz Mitchell, 30, a speech pathologist, noticed smoke coming from Ms. Hackett's window in the rear courtyard. Together, she and Mr. Suzer climbed through Ms. Mitchell's window into the courtyard and kicked away Ms. Hackett's air-conditioning unit while shouting for her to come out.
''I was screaming, 'Come to the window!' '' Ms. Mitchell said, adding that they could not see Ms. Hackett in the smoke and flames. ''She said, 'I'm coming to the window.' She sounded so calm.'' Ms. Hackett said again that she was coming, but she never did, Ms. Mitchell said.
Ms. Hackett was pronounced dead at New YorkCommunityHospital, fire officials said.
The officials said yesterday afternoon that the blaze had been caused by Ms. Hackett's smoking.
As smoke from the fire filled the hallways, neighbors opened their apartment doors, then quickly shut them to keep the thick black smoke from spreading. Firefighters told the neighbors to stay in their apartments until the fire was out. There were no other injuries.
Neighbors gathered yesterday on the steps where Ms. Hackett had spent so many hours, recalling how she had cared for her mother, who had lived there for about 30 years.
Steve Margolias, 64, a retired teacher, said that he had pestered Ms. Hackett for a spare set of keys to her apartment, but that she kept forgetting to get copies made.
''If I did have the keys, I would have been in there and pulled her out,'' he said. ''She was the funniest. That's what I'll miss about her, her sense of humor.''
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Carol Reher (Cohen (Flushing H. S. 1969)) (1969)
Rest in peace, old friend.....Marc Zekofsky (1968)
Hey Carol, I read the article about Rory, so sad. We used to hang out, she was a good person.I also read about Mark Orlando "ZULU". We lived next door for years, I did see him a few times over the years. Do you know what happened to him?
Marc Zekofsky "Z"
1968
Carol Reher (Cohen (Flushing H. S. 1969)) (1969)
Hi Z.I have no clue about what happened to Zulu. I did not
know him outside of high school.
Rory deserved more out of life than she received. Her
tragic end was very distressing. It is a cruel reminder
of how brief and fragile life is.
Regards
Carol