A beloved grandmother was tragically killed when a fire swept through her New York City apartment, leaving her trapped inside due to her inability to escape in a wheelchair. Ana Serrano, 80, of the Bronx, was visiting with one of her sons when the violent blaze erupted on the second floor of her apartment building on East 169th Street near Morris Avenue earlier this month, according to the Daily News.
Health Struggles and Mobility Challenges
Serrano lived with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that left her unable to walk, and relied on a wheelchair. In recent years, she had also been informed that one of her lungs was not fully functioning. Despite her son’s desperate attempts to help her escape, the intense flames combined with her limited mobility proved fatal. She was pronounced dead the following day, with doctors attributing her death most likely to smoke inhalation.
“My brother was there when the fire broke and he was the one who did the best he could to get her out of the building,” her other son, 45-year-old Isaí Serrano, told the outlet. “It’s tough to endure something of this nature—to think about the way that it happened. It’s hard for sure. It’s not what we expected. We knew she was 80 years old and we knew that time was fleeting… so we cherish those moments.”
The Day of the Fire
On April 16, an incident alert reported a fire on the second floor of a five-story apartment building at approximately 2:45 p.m., prompting an “All Hands” response and a request for EMS at the scene. Gerson Serrano was spending time with his mother at her home on what had been an ordinary afternoon when a neighbor knocked on her third-floor apartment door, frantically informing her of the fire.
“My brother told me they had just been joking around prior to this fire coming through. They were watching a show. They were joking around and he was making her laugh,” Isaí told the Daily News. “That was her every day. Always smiling through it all. Always a good thing to say. Always caring for everyone else. That’s the type of woman she was. Selfless.”
Gerson immediately rushed to help his mother out of the burning building, doing everything he could before she was transported to BronxCare Health System in critical condition. Serrano had a pulse when she arrived for emergency treatment and was breathing, Isaí said, “just not on her own.” She fought for hours before being pronounced dead just before midnight the day after the fire. “We were able to sit with her until the last pulse,” Isaí told the outlet.
Family Grief and Memories
Doctors informed the family that her cause of death appeared to be smoke inhalation, though they were still awaiting the official ruling from the city Medical Examiner. Isaí is among several family members mourning his mother’s sudden death, saying he never imagined that a hug during a visit to her Bronx apartment just a week earlier would be their last. He had spent the morning through the afternoon with her that day and stayed by her side as she attended a virtual doctor’s appointment.
“I said, ‘Hey, I’m off work. I’m gonna come to the house and we’ll get on the virtual meeting together,’” Isaí told the Daily News. “Right before I left I gave her the strongest hug. I don’t know what came over me. I question myself why I did this, not knowing that was going to be the last time I saw her.”
Serrano’s death was particularly difficult for the family, who had held out hope that she would live a long life despite her medical issues. They had taken steps to ease her condition in recent years, including setting up an at-home oxygen tank, which Isaí said “drastically” improved her quality of life.
Life and Legacy
Born in Puerto Rico, Serrano moved to Manhattan in the 1970s and later met her soon-to-be husband at a church event in Brooklyn. She received her diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in her 50s, around the same time her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “With her own ailments, she was a trooper,” Isaí recalled. “She picked my father up from the bed, helped him, because it was very immobilizing for him, even though she was going through her own levels of immobility.”
Navigating Serrano out of her apartment grew increasingly difficult over the years, particularly after 2005, when she was widowed and no longer able to make it to church. “She would join the church Zoom meetings. Local church people would come over to her house and just be with her and hold prayer services with her. They were committed to still making her feel a part of it,” Isaí said.
Isaí remembered his mother as “joyful,” a talented seamstress who spent years mending clothes and never complained about the chronic pain she lived with. “She liked to write poems. A birthday card, instead of just writing a message, she would write a poem. She loved doing that,” he said. Just last year, the family celebrated Serrano’s 80th birthday on Thanksgiving, gathering to make it a “big event for her.” Isaí said she even made the family take a video of her making her famous stuffing, wanting to preserve the moment so they could watch and learn from it themselves.
In an emotional tribute on Facebook, Isaí wrote: “I can’t thank God enough for her life, love and sacrifice. Thank you to all that made her smile, made her laugh, loved and served her. Rest in glory Mami we love and will miss you.” Fire marshals are still working to determine the cause of the fire.
