Former Actress Who Once Appeared on 'Guiding Light' Dies in Manhattan Apartment Fire at age 33

Evelyn Dehab

Evelyn Dahab, a New York City writer, bar owner and one-time actress who appeared in long running soap opera Guiding Light died in a fire in her Manhattan basement on Wednesday, the NYPD confirmed. She was 33.

Dahab as found in her bed after firefighters arrived to tackle a blaze in her basement apartment in the East Village neighborhood. She had been involved in a lengthy and costly $18,000 legal battle with her landlord, had planned to vacate her home at the end of the year and was pronounced dead at the scene around 3.15 a.m.

"She was bigger than life and too young to die," her father, Richard Dahab, told DNAinfo.

It took 60 firefighters 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control and neighbors said that they thought everyone had exited the building before they saw flames and smoke coming from the basement apartment.

"The fire department came and broke open the door and smoke just came billowing out. It was a very dark gray. The smell was powerful. It just smelled like burnt charcoal," said resident Chase Chemero.

According to Dahab's parents the fire was caused by faulty wiring, but the FDNY or NYPD has not confirmed the cause.

Originally from Long Island, Dahab attended Columbia's Barnard College and had a novel, "Incapitated," published in 2011.

The novel, a memoir, recounted her travels across the world with a rich bachelor.

During her twenties, Dahab appeared in a few episodes of CBS soap opera Guiding Light.

In addition, the multi talented Dahb had also worked sometimes as a fitness model and also spent time working in finance.

"She was beautiful. She was a bright girl. She'd written a book. She went to Barnard," said her mother, Carolyn Dahab.

She added that she had last spoken to her daughter on Sunday.