DaJuana Green lost both her son, 10-year-old Rayshawn Matthews, and her grandson, two-year-old Chayce Lipford, in a fire that took her two-story Queens Village home. It was announced by FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro on Monday that officials say there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire, but that they had found no Smoke Detectors inside the home. It turns out Green was out at the time the fire happened, purchasing new smoke detectors for the home, located on 218th Street.

Three others also died in the house fire – Jada Foxworth, 16, Melody Edwards, 17, and 20-year-old Destiny Dones.

Reportedly a sixth person, Maurice Matthews, 46, who is Rayshawn's father and Chayce's grandfather, was the only survivor. Matthews managed to escape from a second-floor window and was taken to the hospital in a satisfactory condition.

Firefighters and residents tried to rescue the occupants of the Queens Village home

When the Queens fire started on Sunday, local residents and firefighters tried in vain to rescue the occupants of the home. The house fire was raging so strongly and smoke was so thick, no one could access the building.

According to Nigro, those inside were probably blocked from leaving by the rapidly moving flames. The fire commissioner said everything happened so quickly that no one was able to dial 911 from inside the house, and the first call to emergency services reportedly came from a passing motorist.

Green returned to the wreckage of her former Queens home on Tuesday, leaving a bunch of blue and pink heart-shaped balloons as a memorial for the five people who perished in the blaze.

It was then that she told reporters on the scene that she was out buying smoke detectors when the fire happened.

Green tells the public to ensure they have working smoke alarms

An emotional Green reportedly said to ABC7 Eyewitness News that everyone should take care of their children. She stressed that people should ensure that their homes have smoke alarms and they must also ensure that they are working correctly.

She said that that is what she was doing at the time the fire happened – going to purchase new alarms to replace the old smoke alarms that had stopped working.

Two days prior to this, Green was seen to be crying hysterically, as the smoke spread through the Queens Village neighborhood.

Funeral planned for the victims of Queens Village fire

ABC7 quotes a local pastor, Dr. Q.A. Headen Sr., as saying a funeral is set to be held for all five victims of the Queens fire on May 6 at the New Greater Bethel Ministries in Queen Village. No time was given for the start of the service.

According to a report by the New York Daily News, the Queens Village fire is the city’s deadliest since seven children died in a fire in a Borough Park house on March 21, 2015.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED