NEW YORK -- The fire department said candles were to blame for a raging fire in Harlem that led a boy and a man to plunge to their deaths to escape the flames.

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The fire broke out Tuesday night at about 8:40 p.m. in the six-story building. Eight people were taken to hospitals, including two firefighters.

Firefighters said the boy was 5 or 6 years old and the man was about 45.

Fire marshals said the fire started accidentally.

FDNY officials told WNBC.com the victims were in the apartment directly above the fifth story apartment where the fire was on fire at West 148th Street and Broadway.

A woman believed to be the boy's mother was not able get out because of a child safety bar on the window that apparently unintentionally saved her life.

Residents in the six-story Hamilton Heights building said they got out as quickly as they could, some with the help of firefighters, after the fire broke out at about 9 p.m.

Tenant Michael Powell said he was able to save his cat.

"The smoke was thick,” he said. “I said this a job for the fire department."

Others said they were furious after what they described as a decade of maintenance problems at the building.

Some tenants said they were concerned that bad wiring might be to blame.

"Leaks, electrical wiring, it's terrible," Paula Martin, a tenant, said.