Today is Sunday, January 9, 2022. Today marks a sad occasion in the five-alarm fire in the Bronx that took the lives of 19 people, with 9 children among them. Mayor Eric Adams called the fire one of the worst fires the city has experienced in modern times. This agonizing story was reported in my online CNN smartphone app in an article by Eric Levenson, Alaa Elaasar, Laura Studley, and Elizabeth Joseph in “Bronx apartment building fire leaves 19 people dead, including 9 children.”

The commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, Daniel Nigro, said earlier today that the blaze sent 32 people to hospitals with life-threatening injuries; thus the death toll from this conflagration could rise even more as time passes. A total of 63 people were injured.

Nigro pointed blame for the fire on a “malfunctioning electric space heater” that was on in a bedroom of an apartment. Within a short time, the fire consumed the room and then the entire unit.

What also contributed to the spreading of the fire was that the apartment door was left open, allowing smoke to spread throughout the building when the residents left their unit, the fire commissioner mentioned.

Talking about the effects of the blaze, Nigro said “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York, and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city.”

About 200 members of the New York City Fire Department responded to the fire at the 19-story building at 333 East 181st Street. The fire began a little before 11 a.m. in a duplex apartment on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building. Firefighters were met by “very heavy smoke, very heavy fire” in the hallways.

“Victims were found in stairways on every floor of the building, many in cardiac arrest, in what Nigro said could be an unprecedented loss of life.” Smoke inhalation was the cause of most of the injuries, Nigro said.

Some of the residents could not leave the building because of the volume of smoke. Firefighters kept attempting to save people from the building despite running out of air tank supply, Nigro indicated.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul weighed in on the tragedy, saying, “I am horrified by the devastating fire in the Bronx today.” She added, “My heart is with the loved ones of all those we’ve tragically lost, all of those impacted and with our heroic FDNY firefighters. The entire State of New York stands with New York City.”

The residential apartment building where the fire occurred is 50 years old and has 120 units, according to building records.

Most of the residents inside the building were of a Muslim persuasion. Many immigrants came from Gambia, a small nation on the east coast of Africa.

First Deputy Commissioner of NYC Emergency Management, Christina Farrell told CNN’s Phil Mattingly today that residents who lived in the apartment building are now being housed at a middle school next door.

To help those residents affected by this major blaze, Governor Hochul said she will establish a compensation fund to help provide the victims of the fire with money for housing, burial costs, and other necessities.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also promised that numerous forms of assistance are being examined on the federal level and will include housing and tax assistance as well as immigration assistance, so that families can be reunited.

Our hearts go out to the victims of this Sunday morning tragedy. The extent of the catastrophe is just too horrific to grasp. It’s just so terrible to receive this horrible news so early in the New Year.

A late-developing January 6-connected story is the rejection on the part of Ohio’s Jim Jordan to voluntarily testify before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack. This is now a case for Attorney General Merrick Garland to haul the despicable congressman’s ass to jail for contempt of Congress – while he’s a sitting lawmaker. This developing story is reported in my online version of The Hill by Olafimihan Oshin entitled “Jim Jordan rejects Jan. 6 panel’s request to cooperate in investigation.” I won’t say what the Dumpf puppet said to justify his rejection of a Congressional committee probing an insurrection incited by his Orange-haired boss. It is just bullshit, as the congressman signals his overwhelming anxiety over having to tell the truth before the panel. He absurdly says that he has “no relevant information that would assist the Select Committee in advancing any legitimate legislative purpose.” This nonsense from someone who acknowledged talking to the bum on January 6 earlier this summer in an interview with Spectrum News.

This was the famous interview when the moronic congressman was actually tongue-tied when asked if he had any communication with the Great Divider and stumbled mightily over his words.

Jordan’s response to the House committee comes days after the one-year anniversary of the deadly January 6 insurrection. So let’s see if the committee will issue a contempt of Congress citation against this very uncooperative congressman.

After so much tragedy happening in my old childhood borough of the Bronx, it would be very inappropriate to record what occurred today in my ongoing COVID-19 journey.

One other sad event happening today was the reporting of the death of comedian Bob Saget who was found dead in an Orlando hotel room at the age of 65. He was best remembered for starring as Danny Tanner in Full House, landing the lead star role in 1987 and finishing out its first iteration in 1995.

He was touring the country lately, hitting many destinations throughout the state of Florida, including Orlando, and got started in September which was supposed to take him through May, as was reported in a TMZ update.

Saget had just tweeted to his fans that he just completed a show at Concert Hall in Jacksonville, Florida. So he appeared to be in good health when he finished his concert gig the night before.

No cause of death has been revealed as of yet. Saget is survived by his wife, Kelly Rizzo, and three children.

Saget’s death is the latest celebrity to die, along with other luminaries like Sidney Poitier, the director and actor Peter Bogdanovich, the inestimable Betty White (at age 99), and Marilyn Bergman, who was an award-winning lyricist best known for her lyrics to “The Way We Were” and many others, who died at age 93.

Our hearts go out to the families of these celebrities who entertained us with their creativity and their talent.

So in the midst of all this sorrow, let’s reflect on our good fortune with our loved ones right now.

Have a good week, despite some very cold weather forecasted for this week.

Stay safe, warm, and be well.