Guilt & grief of fire ma Toddler sparked blaze

The Bronx mom whose toddler son accidentally started the deadly Bronx inferno while she was showering is “hurting,” her distraught father told The Post Saturday.

“She will have to live with this for the rest of her life,” said Hope Fugar, 63, of his daughter Rita, who reportedly left her apartment door open as she fled her burning apartment at 2363 Prospect Ave., which spread the flames that consumed five floors and killed 13 people.

“What is she going to tell her children when they get older? It’s just a sad, sad situation,” he said solemnly.

Fugar said he received a frantic call from his 25year-old daughter the night of Dec. 28.

He rushed to the chaotic scene and found Rita clutching her two sons, ages 2 and 3.

“Her face didn’t look good,” he said. “She looked worried, sad, frightened.”

Fugar said his daughter was put up at a Queens hotel for a few days but is now with her husband and sons at an undisclosed location. Even he is having a hard time getting in touch, he said.

“When I call it doesn’t go through, so I wait for them to call,” he told The Post.

Authorities said the 3year-old boy sparked the fire while fiddling with the knobs on the kitchen stove. The boys had been left to watch TV while their mom showered.

When she emerged she saw smoke “coming out of the kitchen,” grabbed her boys and bolted out the door, a source said.

In a panic, she left the front door open, allowing the 6:51 p.m. blaze to rapidly spread up the stairwell to the top of the 26-unit building, trapping residents inside, FDNY officials said.

Some of the residents have blamed the mother for her actions that night.

“I’m angry, I’m very angry,” said Emelia Acheampong, 42, who was left homeless. “You got to be watching your kids.”