Fashion Editor and Mom Among Fatal Fire Victims

A beloved fashion journalist, as well as her mother, were two of three people killed in a fire that tore through a six-story Inwood apartment building on May 4.

Five other residents, including a mom and her three children, remain hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns.

The death of 48-year-old Yolaine Diaz was confirmed by People. She wrote for People en Español, the Spanish-language edition of the magazine. People en Español later reported the death of Díaz’s 73-year-old mother, Ana Mirtha Lantigua. The third person to die in the fire, reportedly a young man, has remained unnamed by the authorities thus far.

The fire at 207 Dyckman Street broke out on the building’s first floor not long after 12:30 a.m., before quickly shooting up the building’s single staircase to the roof, destroying eight of the building’s 23 apartments. The building’s sole stairwell collapsed, which complicated firefighting and rescue attempts.

FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore noted that the fire was able to spread rapidly because the doors of some of the apartment were left open, as residents fled for their lives. “I know it’s a scary situation in a fire,” Bonsignore said at a press conference. “We’re not always thinking straight. But close the door. Make sure all your family members know to do the same.”

It took until 3 a.m. to get the blaze under control. A total of 14 other people were injured, with 100 building residents displaced.

Several of the critically injured surviving victims are identified in a Go Fund Me fundraiser as a mother and her three children: five-year-old Alison, nine-year-old Alonzo and 18-year-old Alex. They are being treated at the hospital for serious injuries stemming from the fire. A GoFundMe started by Alexis Rodriguez, in both English and Spanish, has raised over $28,000 as of May 6.

“The three children are currently intubated and in critical condition after suffering burns and smoke inhalation. The youngest, Alison, was pulled from the building unconscious and had to receive CPR,” the fundraising description noted. “Their mother is also in the hospital, injured and unable to be by their side the way she would want to be during this heartbreaking time.”

“In a matter of moments, this family lost everything,” according to the GoFundMe post. “Their home is gone along with all of their belongings. They are left without clothing, furniture, and basic necessities. While they fight to recover, they are also facing the reality of having to rebuild their lives from nothing.”

Diaz worked as a fashion and beauty editor at People en Español until 2022, and still contributed work there on similar topics after leaving the full time role, with her last byline published on April 26. She started there as a beauty and fashion intern in 2004, and later worked as a fact-checker before becoming an editor.

Diaz also contributed bylines to outlets such as Us Weekly, Ebony, and NewBeauty en Español over the course of her career.

According to People en Español, Diaz and Lantigua collapsed in the building’s smoke-filled stairwell after fleeing their apartment. Diaz’s stepfather, who remains unnamed, reportedly exited the building via the fire escape; he survived and looked for his loved ones, to no avail, outside.

El Diario Nueva York, the Spanish-language paper, further described Diaz as a “a well-known figure in Hispanic journalism in New York.” The publication noted that she was a native of the Dominican Republic, hailing from the city of Bonao, and graduated from Lehman College in the Bronx.

Kika Rocha, a colleague of Diaz’s at People en Español, commemorated her in a post on Facebook: “Over the years, that curious and passionate young woman became a key member of our beauty team, a tireless partner in stories, star products, and conversations that were always meant to inspire and serve other women.”

“Yolaine had a special gift for offering advice with warmth, generosity, and enthusiasm,” Rocha added. “Her last message to me, on Sunday [May 3] at 11:11 p.m., was exactly that: a source of inspiration, a link to videos she wanted me to start making, an idea she’d thought up just for me—so I could keep creating and keep shining.”

The city is suing the owners of 207 Dyckman St.—Jan Jan Realty Corp.—for neglecting a building next door, at 209 Dyckman St.

Specifically, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development has filed a complaint noting that there are more than 200 code violations at 209 Dyckman St., nearly 60 of which are deemed “immediately hazardous.”

The cause of the fire at 207 Dykman St. remains under investigation by FDNY fire marshals.