At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, as the sky began to darken, dozens of community members, faith leaders and elected officials gathered outside a house in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
They came to remember the six people who died in a devastating fire a week earlier on Nov. 5. The victims, identified by Chinese community organizations and faith groups, were Chinese immigrants from Fujian Province in China. With their heads bowed, the vigil was solemn and quiet.
So far, the NYPD has confirmed the identities of only three of the six people who died. But through conversations with eight Chinese community members and leaders who have been helping the affected families, Documented pieced together fragments of the lives of the six victims.
Community members and organizations confirmed to Documented that the victims included Cheng Zong Lin, 47, and his partner, Ming Qin Zheng, 48; Wei Xiu Zeng, 53, and her 21-year-old daughter Li Sun Zhu; and Bing Zhen Ma and her grandson Fa Yang Lu. Ma and Lu’s ages have not been confirmed.
The vigil was held on the seventh day after the fire, a date with special significance in traditional Chinese mourning customs. Known as touqi (头七), the seventh day after a person’s death is traditionally observed as the first in a series of mourning ceremonies over the next 49 days. According to some Chinese folk beliefs, the deceased person’s spirit realizes on the seventh night that they have died and returns home to visit their family for one last time.
White chrysanthemums, glowing yellow candles, plates of bananas, oranges and apples, and wreaths decorated with yellow-and-white flowers and memorial ribbons were delicately placed in front of the two-story house on 58th Street in Sunset Park. With its charred exterior and hollow window frames, the building stood behind them as a stark reminder of the harrowing night that took the lives of their friends and family.
Danny Zhang, a Fujianese immigrant and community activist, heard about the fire on the morning it happened. The three-alarm fire broke out around 1:39 a.m. the morning of Nov. 5. Flames engulfed the building within a few minutes.
“When I first saw the news, I thought it was an ordinary fire,” Zhang recalled.
Then he received a phone call from a friend asking whether he could help a man who lost both his mother and son in the fire. The man, the son of Bing Zhen Ma and father to Fa Yang Lu, lives in China, and wanted to travel to the United States to see them one last time.
Community members said Lu had lived with his grandmother since he was young, after his parents divorced.
“This is devastating to [Lu’s father],” Zhang said, describing the experience of learning about the deaths from the other side of the world.
Zhang said he and other community leaders, including Ray Huang, president of the nonprofit Better Brooklyn Association, spoke with the local congressman’s office and the Chinese Consulate in New York to help arrange travel for the victims’ relatives in China.
“In our culture, it’s important for family members to see their loved ones for the last time, so that the deceased can rest in peace and don’t have to worry about their surviving family members,” Zhang said.
Two more victims, Wei Xiu Zeng and Li Sun Zhu, a mother and daughter, had arrived in the U.S. about a year ago from Lianjiang, a town in Fujian. Zeng’s husband sponsored their move to the U.S. after coming to the country several years earlier.
Huang told Documented that Zeng’s husband had been working long hours at a restaurant outside of New York, and was not at home when the fire killed his wife and daughter. “It’s so sad to see a family that had just reunited have their American dream perish overnight,” Huang said.
Cheng Zong Lin was a single father who came to the U.S. from Changle, Fujian, in 2008. After divorcing his wife in 2013, he raised their son, Shawn Lin, in Brooklyn. Shawn had graduated from college last year and now works as a special education teacher. He was out of town when the fire broke out.
“His heart was broken,” said Nicole Huang, executive director of the Parent-Child Relationship Association, a nonprofit that aims to empower immigrant families. “Shawn told me that his father had been his greatest source of support throughout those years. His father worked hard and gave everything he had.”
In addition to raising his son, Lin also helped his own parents, who are almost 70, cover their everyday expenses, said Nicole Huang. Lin lived in the apartment with his partner, Ming Qin Zheng, who also died in the fire.
Ming Qin Zheng was from Minhou, Fujian, and worked at a nail salon. Chinese-language media reported that Zheng had been in poor health but continued working hard to support her family. Zheng’s cousin said she had already purchased a plane ticket to return to China in December to attend a relative’s wedding. Now she will never get to use it.
Officials said the fire appeared to have started on the second floor of a two-story home on 58th Street near Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park before spreading throughout the building. Investigators found several electric mobility devices at the scene, but they have still not confirmed whether lithium-ion batteries played any role in the fire. An FDNY spokesperson told Documented on Thursday that the cause of the fire “is still under investigation.”
Nine people, including police officers and firefighters, were injured. After the fire, eight displaced residents were transported to temporary hotel housing with assistance from the American Red Cross.
This part of Sunset Park was officially co-named Brooklyn’s Chinatown in October and is home to a close-knit community of Chinese immigrants, many from Fujian Province. The news of the fire sent shockwaves through the local Chinese community.
“The loss of six lives is not just a loss for the four families; it’s a loss for the entire Brooklyn Chinatown community,” City Council member Susan Zhuang, whose district includes parts of Sunset Park, said at Wednesday’s vigil, noting that the victims were hardworking immigrants.
State Senator-elect Dr. Larry He, Assemblymembers-elect Joyce Xie and Joey Saban, and City Council member Alexa Avilés also expressed their condolences to the victims and their families that night.
Zhuang called for greater public education on e-bike and lithium-ion battery safety. Xie urged residents to develop fire safety plans for their homes.
Community Rallies to Support Survivors
In the aftermath of the fire, the affected families are facing a range of challenges, including displacement, costly funeral expenses and medical bills for survivors. Multiple Chinese community organizations and faith groups have stepped in to provide assistance.
Ray Huang said the survivors of the fire and many of the victims’ family members are Fujianese immigrants who are not fluent in English. They need language assistance from Chinese-speaking organizations to navigate the resources and services available to them, Huang said.
At Wednesday’s vigil, the Church of Grace to Fujianese and Chinese Christian Herald Crusades each mobilized $10,000 in emergency relief funds for the affected families.
“We know that this amount of money is only a drop in the bucket for the affected families and can only help address their most urgent needs,” said Pastor Mike Chan of Chinese Christian Herald Crusades at a fundraising press conference in Flushing on Thursday. “We appeal to compassionate people from all sectors of society to extend a helping hand to the victims’ families and those injured, so they do not have to bear the double burden of displacement and enormous medical expenses.”
Chan said the organization hoped community groups would work together to support the affected families. “Let us stand together and help one another, regardless of race or faith, as we help them rebuild their homes,” he said.
Katie Chau, executive director of CCHC Global Ministries, said the affected families would need to find other temporary housing or shelter because the period covered by the Red Cross’s short-term emergency housing assistance had ended.
She said the donations would go directly to the victims to help cover expenses such as daily necessities, essential living costs, finding new housing and funeral arrangements.
“I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has reached out to help get through this difficult time,” Lin’s aunt, Meiyun Lin, said through tears at the press conference.
Meanwhile, community organizations including the American New York Chinese Association, the Better Brooklyn Association and several Fujianese hometown associations began fundraising through WeChat groups. The Parent-Child Relationship Association also created a GoFundMe page to support the victims and their families.
“Many of the donations have come from Chinese community members, especially those from Fujian”, said Xu Chen, president of the American New York Chinese Association. “Through this disaster, we have really seen the strength and unity of our community.”
Since launching the fundraising effort with several partner organizations, they have received more than $20,000 in donations from community members, Chen said.
Emotional Aftermath
Beyond the financial losses, community leaders said the fire can have lasting psychological effects on survivors and nearby residents.
Nicole Huang, the Parent-Child Relationship Association executive director, said a house at 651 58th Street, next door to the building that caught fire, was also evacuated.
She said tenants and neighbors who need assistance are welcome to contact community organizations such as hers, which has established a post-disaster support group.
Both the Church of Grace to Fujianese and Chinese Christian Herald Crusades said they would also provide mental health support to people affected by the fire.
Zong Rong Chen, an elder at the Church of Grace to Fujianese in Brooklyn, said the church hoped to provide not only financial assistance but also emotional support. “People can develop trauma from a disaster like this. We feel heartbroken for them, and we want to walk with them through this difficult journey,” Chen said.
How to Help Families Affected by the Fire
Several community organizations and faith groups have launched fundraising campaigns to support the victims and their families. The following are some of the available ways to donate. This list may be updated as more information becomes available.
Chinese Christian Herald Crusades (CCHC)
CCHC accepts donations through several methods. For questions, email accounting@cchc.org.
- By check
Make checks payable to: CCHC
Include “Brooklyn Fire” in the memo line.
Mail checks to:
CCHC
156-03 Horace Harding Expressway
Flushing, NY 11367 - Through Zelle
Send donations directly to CCHC’s bank account using the email address accounting@cchc.org.
Write “Brooklyn Fire” in the memo field. - Through PayPal or credit card
Visit CCHC’s donation page:
https://ny.cchc.org/support/
Specify “Brooklyn Fire” when making the donation.
Parent-Child Relationship Association
The Parent-Child Relationship Association has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the victims and their families. You can visit this page to donate.
