Syracuse, N.Y. — Kristy Tucker, a 29-year-old Syracuse woman, has been identified by family as one of two people who died Monday morning in a house fire on the city’s West Side.
The Syracuse Fire Department and Syracuse police have not identified the two women who died in the fire that destroyed the 2½-story house at 119 Olive St.
Firefighters arrived at 8:29 a.m. — just minutes after the first 911 call – and the house was already in flames from basement to attic, Syracuse Fire Chief Michael Monds said. The fire also had already spread to a house at 119½ Olive St.
Kristy Tucker’s brother Tyler Tucker said Tuesday night that his sister was born in Syracuse and graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School. She moved into the apartment on Olive Street with her family in February, he said.
She loved animals and had a great sense of humor, Tyler said.
“She was such a goofy person,” he said. “She couldn’t fail to make you laugh.”
She was very sweet, she was selfless and she was very kind hearted, said Pam Tucker, her aunt. She said Kristy’s nickname was “Goosey.”
Kristy loved to cook meals for her family and she always made sure the apartment they shared was tidy, according to her brother.
“Kristy could not stand seeing even one dish in the sink,” he said. “She had to wash it.”
Seven people lived in the first-floor apartment at 119 Olive St., including Kristy and Tyler, but only six people were home when the fire began. Jeffrey Tucker — Kristy and Tyler’s father — had already left for work that morning, Tyler said.
In addition to the two women who died, two residents were hospitalized, Monds said.
It took more than 100 minutes and 69 firefighters to fully extinguish the fire, which was extremely hot, Monds said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Monds said. The house at 119 Olive was too unstable for investigators to enter, he said.
One of the bodies was removed only after the fire had been extinguished, according to Monds. Tyler Tucker said that was his sister Kristy.
Flames shoot from a house fire on Olive Street in Syracuse on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Photo courtesy Roman Zoldak)
Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com.