Fireworks Ignite N.Y. Home; 3 in Family Die

NEW YORK —  A Brooklyn couple and the husband’s mother were killed early Friday when illegal fireworks--hurled into the sky by unknown holiday revelers--landed on the family’s rear porch, sparking a smoky blaze, fire marshals said.

John Antonelli, 57, his wife, Marie, 56, and his 88-year-old mother, Mary, died in their nightclothes, trying to escape.

The Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the Antonellis lived, was a hotbed of Fourth of July activity.

There were several spirited block parties around the Antonellis’ home, and illegal fireworks were everywhere.

A neighbor said the Antonellis had gone to a picnic at their daughter’s house. They returned home just as the normally quiet neighborhood--a tree-lined street of tightly packed, two-story homes--erupted in a blitzkrieg of color and sound.

“Last year there was nothing,” said Marina Innocente, a neighbor. “But, this year, it was wild. It seemed like the whole street was one big fireball.”