Grandpa, 68, dies in Qns. home blaze

THE BELOVED patriarch of a Queens family died in a house fire Sunday after he saw smoke in his bedroom and went to find its source, authorities and relatives said.

The blaze began in a basement breaker box at the 97th Ave. home, near 107th St. in Ozone Park, around 2:30 a.m., according to FDNY officials.

Mohinvei Singh, 68, awoke in his first-floor bedroom and went to check on smoke rising from the basement, according to his son-inlaw, Raman Deol, 32. He never made it back.

Soon after, Singh’s son, Belkarn Singh, awoke in a smoke-filled room and went looking for his dad.

“He couldn’t find him,” Deol said of his 28-year-old brother-inlaw, who was forced to give up his search amid the choking smoke.

Sandeep Kaur, a second-floor tenant of the three-story home, also awoke to find thick smoke flooding the hallways. “I went to the kitchen to check the stove, but I couldn’t turn on the light,” the 25-year-old said. “None of the power was on. My first thought was to get out of the house.”

The fire was brought under control at 3:40 a.m.

Deol recalled his father-in-law — who arrived from Punjab, India, more than 30 years ago and drove cabs for two decades — as a kind, hardworking man .

“He worked overtime and helped four of his brothers immigrate here to the United States,” Deol said. “He helped his friends get jobs in gas stations, in construction and driving cabs. He was a helpful, peaceful man.”