STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The tragic death of 7-year-old Rory DeCristoforo in a fire on New Year’s Day in West Brighton occurred little more than a year after the horrific demise of three children in one family in a pre-Christmas blaze in Stapleton.
While the cause of the fire that took Rory’s young life at her home on Brookside Avenue remained under investigation on Thursday, the FDNY revealed that electrical issues sparked the house fire on Van Duzer Street that fatally injured the Miles children, Sirah, 6, and Ashley and Aiden, both 5, two days before Christmas 2022.
Fire marshals determined that the accidental blaze in Stapleton in 2022 was linked to electrical wiring.
Rory DeCristoforo of West Brighton is shown in this photo on Facebook.Facebook
Funeral arrangements have been set for Rory, the daughter of Mark DeCristoforo, the athletic director and head football coach at St. Peter’s Boys High School with visitation on Friday and a funeral Mass on Saturday.
A GoFundMe fundraiser set up by a family friend to support the DeCristoforos has blown past several of its initial goals. As of Thursday afternoon, over 7,000 people raised more than $650,000 toward the $750,000 goal.
On Jan. 1, approximately 60 firefighters and 12 units responded to the fire, which was reported at 5:38 p.m. at the DeCristoforo home at 110 Brookside Ave. The blaze was placed under control at 6:26 p.m., according to the FDNY.
The fire started on the second floor in a bedroom, Division 8 Deputy Chief Gregg Hansson previously told the Advance/SILive.com.
Dozens of candles, stuffed animals and toys line the steps of 1048 Van Duzer St. in Stapleton in this 2022 photo as a makeshift memorial to the children killed during a fire that occurred two days before Christmas. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod
FIRE DEVASTATES FAMILY IN STAPLETON
The concrete steps leading up to 1048 Van Duzer St. in Stapleton were turned into a makeshift memorial in honor of the children whose heartbreaking deaths stemmed from a fire that tore through the home two days before Christmas 2022.
Sirah and Ashley died the day of the tragic fire, Dec. 23, while Aiden succumbed to his injuries and passed away days later at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.
At the time, the NYPD and FDNY did not share information on the condition of a fourth critically injured child, a 10-year-old boy. Two other children, ages 12 and 14, suffered minor injuries in the fire.
A week after the fire, the multi-story home stood boarded up, but several dozen memorial candles left by the community could be seen lined up alongside a number of stuffed animals and various other toys.
Members of the community and staff members at PS 57 in Clifton, where the children were students, rallied around the family and organized at least one fundraiser on their behalf.
Doris Quinonis died days after a two-alarm fire that occurred on Dec. 15, 2023, at 208 Benziger Ave. in New Brighton. (Steve White for the Staten Island Advance)Steve White
CAUSES NOT YET DETERMINED IN 2 OTHER FIRES
Fire marshals are continuing to investigate causes in at least two other fire-related deaths on Staten Island this year.
Doris Quinones died on Dec. 17, two days after she was removed from a fire at 208 Benziger Ave. in New Brighton and transported in critical condition to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton. Police initially identified the victim as a 73-year-old woman.
A GoFundMe post says her son, Carlos Morales, “was able to escape with his life.”
The fundraiser describes Quinones as a “beautiful mother” and claims that “the home and all therein were destroyed.”
The two-alarm fire was reported at 9:58 p.m. on Dec. 15 on the second and third floors of the three-story house on Benziger near the intersection of Bismark Avenue and Jersey Street. The blaze was brought under control in about an hour, at 10:53 p.m., by 106 firefighters and 25 units, according to the FDNY.
The FDNY is responding to a fire at a home on Braisted Avenue near Kelly Boulevard on the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel
A firefighter also suffered minor injuries in the blaze reported at 12:23 p.m. for the first floor of a semi-attached home on Braisted near Kelly Boulevard, according to a spokeswoman for the FDNY.
The injured people were transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Prince’s Bay, where Foxman died, according to authorities.
About 60 firefighters and 12 units brought the fire under control at the three-story, 20-by-40-foot house at 1:11 p.m., according to the spokeswoman.
Storage bins, boxes and full trash bags littered the property and street surrounding the house immediately following the fire. A reporter observed a police presence on the block.
The FDNY responds to a fire at a home on Braisted Avenue near Kelly Boulevard on the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel
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