Bronx community honors victims of deadly 2022 Twin Parks fire
The anniversary was marked with moments of silence and prayer at Borough Hall, as residents remembered the chaos and terror of that day.
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Four years after a deadly fire tore through Twin Parks, survivors and loved ones gathered to remember the 17 people who lost their lives — eight of them children — and to honor the strength that carried them through unimaginable grief.
FDNY leaders would later describe the January blaze as a battlefield — one of the deadliest fires New York City has seen in decades — devastating families across the borough’s Gambian community.
At a vigil held at Borough Hall, Vanessa Gibson reflected on rushing to the scene during her first week in office. For a moment, the room fell completely silent as survivors and city leaders bowed their heads in prayer.
Names and faces of the eight children lost in the blaze, survivors say, are forever etched into the heart of the Fordham community.
Haji Bukuray, who lost five members of his family in the fire, said the pain is permanent — but so is the support that has surrounded survivors.
“Unfortunately, I lost five members of my family,” Bukuray said. “But I gained family, too. Look at the people behind us — the people who stood with us, who continue to stand with us.”
Investigators with the FDNY say a space heater sparked the fire on a bitter January day, but faulty self-closing fire doors allowed flames and smoke to spread rapidly through all 19 stories of the building.
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who joined other city leaders at a nearby mosque where many victims once worshiped, said the tragedy highlights deeper, systemic housing issues in the Bronx — pointing to unreliable heat as a key reason tenants rely on space heaters.
“We know the problems,” Williams said. “We can’t bring these families back, but we should use their memories to prevent adding more names.”
Survivors told News 12 that while the pain never fades, it’s their faith — and the strength they draw from one another — that continues to carry them forward, four years later.
