A 59-year-old artist who took photos of Ground Zero in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks died early Monday when a fire broke out in his Manhattan apartment building, a friend of the victim says.
Ed Albers died after a fire sparked by an extension cord broke out on the fourth floor of his apartment building, on East 16th Street in Gramercy Park, a few minutes after midnight, according to the FDNY and the NYPD. A friend said his German Shepherd also died.
The blaze didn’t spread to other floors and fire crews were able to extinguish the flames within an hour.
Albers was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died, the NYPD says.
William Mandeville says that Albers was a well-known artist in the 1990s who had painted. He also had a gallery of photos he took in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Mandeville said that Albers also had a young daughter.
"He will be missed now," Mandeville said. "I know he was painting again, trying to paint. He was crazy about his daughter."
