4-year-olds playing with lighter caused Far Rockaway fire that killed 2, officials say - New York Daily News

Instagram Ja'launi Tinglin (right) and Aniya Tinglin, both age 4, died Easter morning Sunday after a fire broke out in a Far Rockaway home. <a class="a-enlarge" href="http://ift.tt/1fd3g0g;

Investigators believe a tragic fire that killed two 4-year-olds the night before Easter was sparked by one of them playing with a lighter, police and fire officials said.



The blaze broke out at the foot of their 63-year-old grandfather’s bed in Far Rockaway, Queens, just before midnight Saturday, killing Jai'Launi Tinglin, 4, and his half-sister Ayina Tinglin, 4, cops said.



Police said the grandfather tried to rescue all three children but that two of them slipped from his grip.



A police source said officials believe the boy was playing with the lighter in the grandfather’s basement bedroom.



Paramedics rushed the children, who neighbors said were visiting their grandfather, to St. John's Hospital in cardiac arrest, but doctors were unable to save them.



The grandfather, who was not immediately identified, and the victims’ aunt, Correction Officer Norda Samuels, 55, were rushed to Nassau University Medical Center. They were in stable condition.



Marc A. Hermann for New York Daily News The scene outside the Bay 30th St. home in Far Rockaway, where two 4-year-old chrildren died in a house fire. Marc A. Hermann for New York Daily News The Far Rockway neighbhood seen above where the children’s grandfather lived and where at least one of the children was playing with a liar prior to the fire. Marc A. Hermann for New York Daily News Another scene of the home, where a fire caused by a lighter killed two 4-year-olds.



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“I looked out the window and the older woman was standing in front yelling, 'There are people in the house!'” said neighbor Daisy Cruz, 30.



“Firefighters carried out the adult male and she kept saying, 'There are kids! There are kids!'” Cruz said. “They brought the boy to the EMT and they were pumping on his chest, trying to bring him back.”



Jai'Launi's twin sister was also pulled from the burning two-story home on Bay 30th St. near Mott Ave. and brought to the same hospital. She was in stable condition, police said.



The children have the same father but two different mothers, cops said.



Pastor Caleb Anya, a 51-year-old neighbor, said his family smelled the smoke.



Marc A. Hermann for New York Daily News The fire broke out the night before Easter. Above, adults who suffered injuries stand outside of a van, possibly before heading to a hospital. <a class="a-enlarge" href="http://ift.tt/1fd3g0g;

“My daughters, Ngozi and Rose, they smelled the fire,” he said. They said, 'Daddy, something is burning.' It's so sad."



His daughter Ngozi, 9, often played with the children.



"I played with the two that died," she said. "They were visiting their grandpa. They always came to visit in the summer, too. Me and my sister (Rose, 7). We'd play basketball, dominos, catch."



The grandpa, grandma, aunt who is a corrections officer and uncle live in the home, neighbors said.



"It's really sad," said Raul Flores, 42. "I just spoke to him (the grandfather). He's always outside. He mows a lot of the lawns on the block. He'd bring the kids with him. It was cute. You could see that he was really close with them.



The multi-generational family is originally from Jamaica.



tmoore@nydailynews.com

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