A 5-year-old boy seriously injured in the fire that tore through his family’s Staten Island home has died — becoming the third sibling killed by the devastating Christmastime blaze, police confirmed Wednesday.
Little Aiden Miles succumbed to his injuries on Dec. 28, less than a week after the Dec. 23 inferno that left his twin sister Ashley and his 6-year-old brother Cera dead, cops said.
The fire broke out at around 10:20 a.m. at the family’s semi-attached home on Van Duzer Street near Vanderbilt Avenue in Fox Hills, trapping the siblings inside.
All the victims were found unconscious after the fire was extinguished, FDNY Chief of Department Jack Hodgens told reporters.
A 10-year-old boy was also hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police sources said at the time. And a 12-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy were stable with minor injuries, officials said.
Aiden Miles, 5, is the third child to die in the blaze that ripped through the Van Duzer Street home Dec. 23. CitizenAshley Miles was pronounced dead at the scene of the fire, while Cera Miles died later that day at Staten Island University Hospital North, cops said.
“We had presents in the basement,” the kids’ devastated eldest brother, Xavier Vanable, 26, said the day of the fire.
“These children were joyful at the heart, and they always played around. They loved school. I always wanted them to be the best they can be.”
The children’s distraught eldest brother, Xavier Vanable, 26, described his young siblings as “joyful at the heart.” Steven Vago/NY PostVanable said his mother, who also was out of the house at the time of the fire, collapsed when she returned home.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said the mother was “in the hospital in shock but is in stable condition.”
“This is an incredible tragedy,” Kavanagh told reporters during a briefing at the scene. “We feel it as New Yorkers. Our members, of course, are parents themselves. This is right before Christmas.”
Neighbor Teresa Forster said, “Anytime is horrible, but right before Christmas….Christmas will be ruined for the rest of their lives. You don’t wish that on anybody.”
Video from the scene shows clouds of smoke rising from the home and people yelling, “Go, go!” as FDNY trucks begin arriving with their sirens blaring.
The blaze was placed under control in about an hour. One firefighter also suffered a minor injury, the FDNY said.
