NYC house fire kills 5, including 3 children

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators are scouring for clues about what sparked a deadly, fast-moving house fire that killed five people, including three children, on a sunny spring afternoon.

The fire broke out Sunday afternoon, on a street full of single-family homes in the middle class neighborhood of Queens Village, a neighborhood near Belmont Park, which hosts the Belmont Stakes, the final leg in horse racing's Triple Crown.

Television news footage showed flames chewing through the roof of the two-story home and roaring in upstairs rooms of the house as smoke poured from it.

Nigro said a passing motorist saw someone tumble from a window as smoke billowed, and called the fire department.

The wood-frame home burned rapidly and was already engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived.

By nightfall Sunday, neighbors who'd been standing in horror outside had gone back into their homes, and first responders had blocked off the street as they continued to investigate.