Yesterday morning, a fire began on the 20th floor of a Manhattan high-rise, killing a man and leaving his husband with critical injuries.
The blaze began at The Strand at 11 a.m. while the unit's residents were not home. Daniel McClung and husband Michael Cohen, 32, reportedly attempted to escape from the 38th floor and were discovered in a stairwell. McClung succumbed to his injuries, while Cohen remains in critical condition.
Assistant Fire Chief John Sudnik told the New York Daily News that McClung and Cohen "may have been originally inside their apartments safe and exited the apartments and become the victims in the stairwells." He added that it's "very important to stay in your apartment in a fire-proof high-rise building," as it's "designed to prevent fire extension."
McClung and Cohen were married last summer.
[via Gothamist and New York Daily News]
