NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Classmates attended a vigil at P.S. 194 in Harlem Thursday to remember the six family members, including 4 children, who died in an apartment fire the day before.
Grief counselors were also on hand and a memorial was growing outside of the school where three of the four victims were students.
Heartbroken students shared tears, hugs, pictures and stories of their friends who were killed in the blaze, 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported.
Authorities say the fire started at approximately 1:40 a.m. on the fifth floor of the Frederick Samuels Houses on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.
The children lived with their mother, 45-year-old Andrea Pollidore, who also died, along with her 33-year-old step-brother.
Pollidore had another child, Raven Reyes who was not at home when the fire broke out.
A friend of Raven's said what she's going through is unbelievable and unbearable.
Investigators learned Pollidore was seriously injured in a previous fire at her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant They say she sustained first-degree burns and suffered memory loss. Careless cooking was believed to be the cause of that fire.
In Wednesday's fire, investigators said she left the stove on and had fallen asleep. They released a picture of a burned pot on a stove that firefighters say was left unattended igniting that fire.
Investigators also said no smoke detector was found in the remains of the apartment despite a successful test which was reportedly carried out in January.
