By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHINATOWN — Eleven families finally returned to their homes Friday, one year after a devastating fire ripped through a six-story tenement in Chinatown, killing two people and injuring more than 20.
The fire began on the second floor of the rent-stabilized apartment building on 22 James St. and quickly shot up through the building in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 2009.
The tenants, many of whom could not speak English, recalled feeling an intense heat coming from below the floor boards before thick, grey smoke rolled into their bedrooms from the stairwells.
Some residents described harrowing jumps from windows on the fifth and sixth floors, while others said they climbed out their windows clutching small children and down a fire truck ladder to safety.
More than 200 people, many of them Chinese immigrants, were evacuated on that bitterly cold morning, as 180 firefighters were deployed to fight the flames.
Fire officials later said the fire was an accident, sparked from an electrical extension cord.
On Friday, 11 of the 13 displaced families celebrated returning to their apartments with local officials.
"In these difficult economic times, New York City residents can not afford to lose one more affordable apartment," said Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, whose district includes Chinatown.
"Working together, we were able to repair the building and ensure that these residents could return to their homes."
Immediately after the fire, Silver worked with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal and Asian Americans For Equality to prevent the tenants from becoming homeless and to ensure that they could eventually return to their rent-stabilized apartments.
