Results tagged “fdny”

An FDNY fire prevention inspector has been accused of claiming he was inspecting boilers when he was really just sitting in his car. Robert Stewart, 40, has been hit with 38 counts of falsifying records for lying about examining boilers in 19 Queens residences when he would actually just fill out the necessary paperwork without leaving his vehicle. more ›

Just after 6 a.m., three FDNY firefighters surrendered to the Brooklyn DA's office to face assault charges stemming from an epic bar brawl at the Salty Dog in Bay Ridge on January 30th. Firefighters Ryan Warnock, Michael Reilly and Christopher Emmel were caught on the bar's surveillance video throwing punches during the melee, which involved at least a dozen active and retired firemen. The DA had considered charging the whole lot with gang assault charges, but it seems the prosecution has honed in on these three. The brawl reportedly erupted after a 21-year-old man spilled a shot on a firefighter; it's unclear who threw the first punch, but the man's cousin suffered a broken eye socket and other injuries during the ensuing pandemonium. more ›

Today a judge overturned the conviction of a landlord whose illegally subdivided Bronx building caught fire in 2005, killing two firefighters as they struggled to find an exit. The firemen's widows were enraged by the decision, reports the Daily News. "The scar has just been opened up again and again and again," said Jeanette Meyran, whose husband died on what's come to be known as Black Sunday. "It's such an abuse of the system." more ›

Last night a woman clung to an air conditioner to escape the fire that was ravaging her Bronx apartment. After climbing out onto the unit she lost her hold and fell, but survived with a broken leg. "She was hanging on to the air conditioner and she lost her grip," said a neighbor who witnessed the amazing escape. "She did not scream. She hit the steps and bounced." The woman was still conscious when firefighters arrived at her side. “'There's somebody else up there,” she told the FDNY’s Rocco Cocciolillo, who fought the “real big blaze.” more ›

Relatives say a Bensonhurst baby who fractured her skull when her mother threw her from the window of a flaming building is getting better and expected to survive. Three-month old Maria Maura Chan has had a series of operations and will undergo therapy for her sight and hearing, reports the AP. Her 2-year-old big brother is unharmed, since he was caught by a neighbor, however the mother Maria Chan was one of five Guatemalan immigrants killed in the fire. Demon-hearing, vodka-loving building resident Daniel Ignacio is accused of starting the blaze intentionally with lighter fluid and a roll of toilet paper, though he claims it was an accident. more ›

Yesterday when 20-year-old Caleb Lacey was convicted of setting a fire that killed a mother and three children, he tried to flee from the premises and was pushed to the ground by court officers, who yelled for quiet in the courtroom. The former-volunteer fireman was found guilty on four counts of murder while committing arson, as well as manslaughter and reckless endangerment. more ›

Recently Black and Hispanic firefighters have cried foul on the FDNY’s allegedly discriminatory hiring policies, now it’s the ladies’ turn. "Don't let a girl do a man's job," read placards during a demonstration after a 1983 court decision to change a screening test, to give females a better shot at fire department jobs. Before 1977 women weren’t even allowed to be firefighters. But despite some changes, today there are just 32 women in the department (you don't see any bikini shots in NY's hunky calendars). "Women are even more underrepresented in the FDNY than minority male firefighters," president of the United Women Firefighters Regina Wilson wrote in a letter to Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who's ruled in favor of minority firefighters in previous lawsuits. more ›

Last night the City Reliquary pretty much brought the FDNY Calendar to life with a Fire Sale! Firefighters took to the Knitting Factory stage to sell... themselves, all to benefit the Reliquary (which is trying to stay afloat). Bids started at $50 and went over 300 bucks; winners were promised "a real life opportunity to take one of New York’s Bravest out on the town for a night of romance and adventure." more ›

The infant held outside a fifth-story window during a Bronx apartment fire escaped the blaze unscathed. "My baby is doing fine," said Saschelle Hewitt, whose cousin dangled her 7-month-old daughter Zaniyah Alexander out a window so the child wouldn't suffocate. "She's the only one without bumps and bruises." more ›

Using surveillance video from that epic bar brawl at the Salty Dog in Bay Ridge, prosecutors have identified 11 people, including active and retired firemen, who may face some pretty serious charges. One captain and one lieutenant have been identified, and the Brooklyn DA's office is considering "slapping" the whole crew with gang assault charges, sources tell the Post. However, some prosecutors "are concerned that a gang-assault rap might lead to expectations of identical charges in future cases." It's true; once the public gets a taste of that sweet gang-assault justice, they'll never stop craving it! more ›

Bearing a window display of brightly colored hard hats and Rosie the Riveter posters, a new-ish Prospect Heights store sells gear for female construction workers and the ladies of the MTA, FDNY and NYPD. "I couldn't walk into a regular store and get anything that was comfortable or fit. Dealing with oversized gear is dangerous, so I had a vision," said Deidre Douglas, who opened the store a year ago. Now, in the small but growing world of female laborers Woman Up! is making a name for itself as the place to get the goods to do the job. more ›

An 11-year-old boy perished in a high-rise fire in Coney Island on Tuesday when he was left alone in his family's apartment. The fire broke out on the 15th floor of the Ocean Towers building on W. 24th street at around 12:15 pm, according to the Daily News. The boy's grandmother had left the apartment to go to the store just before the blaze broke out, and reportedly "broke down and wept when she returned home and saw the boy's lifeless body." The boy's name has not yet been released. "They were pumping his heart," witness Elphine Ahrendts, 14, told the tabloid. "His eyes were red [and] he only had on underwear ... He wasn't breathing ... They couldn't help him." more ›

Early this morning another fire in Queens took the life of a 60-year-old grandma who was unable to escape before firemen arrived and doused the flames. Deborah Kelly lived on the 17th floor of a Lefrak City building on 57th Avenue. Around 3 a.m. neighbors smelled smoke and went to investigate, reports the Daily News. "[The neighbor] went up to Deborah's door and felt the heat so he knew it was coming from there," said Loretta Henderson, who lives on the same floor. "He knocked, but didn't get an answer. So, he called 911." The FDNY arrived in three minutes and got the the fire under control in under an hour, but for Kelly it was too late. "They opened up the door, a lot of thick, black smoke blew out," said Henderson. "That's when they went in and found her."
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A fire ripped through a Bronx public housing project yesterday afternoon, forcing a woman to dangle a baby out of a fifth-story window while she waited for rescuers to arrive. The blaze broke out at around 2 pm inside a closet in an apartment in the Pelham Parkway Houses and quickly spread through the three-bedroom residence, sending victims to the windows gasping for air. more ›

With fires breaking out right and left—including one that originated in a furniture shop and wiped out a row of beloved mom-and-pop stores this weekend—Queens lawmakers are now saying there may not be time to make massive cuts to the FDNY. Mayor Bloomberg had previously proposed getting rid of 20 fire companies around the city, as well as those quaint street fire alarm boxes. According to NY1, Councilman Daniel Dromm and Assemblyman Jose Peralta say the Queens fire "proves the city needs to find a way to keep all of its firehouses open." Demolition crews are clearing out what's left of the eight businesses that were destroyed in Jackson Heights. Meanwhile, the city's other recent fire victims, especially those of a Brooklyn fire that killed five, continue to mourn and recoup from their losses. more ›

Last night a fire killed a woman at the Harlem apartment complex that's home to many politicians including Gov. Paterson and Rep. Charles Rangel. Firefighters found the 50-year-old victim lying dead on the bathroom floor of her 16th floor apartment, according to the Daily News. They said she was hard to reach because her living space was cluttered with junk, what they called "Collyers' mansion" conditions (referring to the famous booby-trapped Harlem house where two pack-rat brothers died among over 100 tons of stuff including books, newspapers, trash and clocks). more ›

A Buildings Department investigation into the Bensonhurst tenement where a fire killed five has proved what many suspected—that the building was an illegally subdivided death-trap, where escape was nearly impossible. The Daily News says as many as 15 people—all Guatemalan immigrants—were crowded onto its third floor thanks to three illegally-built walls. Since fire escapes were blocked for some units, the only exit was the smoky collapsing stairwell, where the fire was set, allegedly by second-floor resident Daniel Ignacio. more ›

First rule of secret hipster trailer park living? Don't invite the FDNY over. To go back in time, in December some alternative-living enthusiasts touted their trailer park paradise housed in a 6,500-square-foot former nut roasting factory in Bushwick. Several media outlets picked it up, and now NY Mag is reporting that earlier today the FDNY busted up the joint. more ›

Yesterday morning, a two-alarm fire tore through the Greenwich village party supply store Village Paper. Over 100 firefighters were able to get the fire under after about an hour—part of the ceiling collapsed, leaving two firefighters with minor injuries—but the store was ruined. Owner Sun Wong spoke to the Daily News while in tears, "I worked so hard for this store, for my family. I'm so sad right now. I have three little ones. What am I going to do now? I feel sick about it." more ›

A "smoking gun memo" obtained by the Village Voice indicates that before being appointed the new commissioner of the FDNY, Salvatore Cassano repeatedly ignored warnings that the Deutsche Bank building—the site of a fatal 2007 blaze—was a safety hazard. According to the alt weekly, the longtime FDNY veteran was briefed on the possible dangers at the 9/11-damaged site, and "was more personally involved than [previous Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta] in the negligence that cost the lives of Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino and injuries to another 115 firefighters." more ›

A Brooklyn mom is charged with endangering the lives of her two young sons, after a fire broke out in her East New York apartment yesterday when they were home alone. Milagros Perez left her two-year-old and four-year-old for 25 minutes just before the fire started, officials say. Firefighters were able to find the two boys in the smoky apartment—both were unconscious and not breathing, but now are expected to survive. "When you find somebody, especially a kid, it gets you going," one firefighter told NY1. "It gets the blood flowing and it's pretty exciting. Especially when you get them outside and you are able to bring them back to life." No word on how the fire started. Last week a heroic mom perished in another Brooklyn fire after throwing her two kids from a window and saving them. more ›

There are, unsurprisingly, conflicting accounts about who started a violent melee between roughly a dozen off-duty firefighters and a group of cousins in a Bay Ridge bar early Saturday morning. The fight started as Sinan Selmani, a soccer coach at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, passed out shots to his cousins and one of them, Luan Leka, 21, spilled his drink on a firefighter. The NYPD and FDNY say the firefighter demanded an apology and instead Leka punched him in the jaw, while a lawyer for the cousins says Leka did apologize but the firefighter was still irate. And when Selmani intervened, the firefighter punched him, sparking the brawl. more ›

A boozy brawl between more than two dozen firefighters and four unlucky civilians early Saturday morning left one man with a broken eye orbit bone, a broken collarbone and broken shoulder. The city's Department of Investigation and the NYPD are investigating the fight, which broke out at the Salty Dog in Bay Ridge after one of the civilians, a 21-year-old, reached for his shot glass and spilled a little booze on one of the firefighters. "It looked like he was saying ‘I’m sorry’ and the firefighter started yelling and screaming, and one of his buddies came around and punched him the face," witness Larry Johnson tells the Post. Pandemonium ensued, and judging from Johnson's account, the only thing missing was a ragtime piano player dodging pint glasses. more ›

Despite telling police he set fire to a toilet paper roll near the entrance of the building where five died Saturday, at his arraignment today Daniel Ignacio pleaded not guilty. His lawyer Danielle Eaddy told the AP she doesn't believe statements he made to police will prove an intention to start the fire and that there were problems with how cops obtained his statement. She even suggested that Ignacio acted heroically, adding that he helped save the life of a two-year-old boy by handing him from a window. "He confessed to the arson," a police source told the Post. "He didn't indicate any rational motive." At a prayer service Rev. Erick Salgado relayed an apology from Ignacio to his congretation: "Sorry. It was not intentional. He did not mean to kill nobody," Salgado said. more ›

As though in answer to Bloomberg's proposed cuts to the force, firemen saved three more New Yorkers from fiery deaths. Early this morning a mattress ignited, filling a Bed-Stuy home with smoke and flames and trapping its residents inside. Amid high winds and snow, the FDNY made quick work of the fire, plucking a young girl from the second floor, just before she jumped. "This young girl was hanging out the window screaming, 'Help me! Help me!,'" recalled Joe Fischer, one of the firemen. "She looked like she was going to jump so we had to get to her quickly." more ›

Members of Brooklyn's tight-knit Guatemalan community were shocked to learn that one of their own had admitted to setting the deadly fire that killed five on Saturday. Daniel Ignacio, an ex-con and a bad drunk, told cops he was inebriated when he lit a roll of toilet paper on fire near the entrance of his apartment building and that he was possessed by "demons or devils." Later, the alleged arsonist left the building via a fireman's ladder, helping to save a child that was passed to him through a window, but leaving one of his roommates to perish. “Are you sure he’s Guatemalan?” asked Pedro Ordoñez, uncle of the child's mother, who died in the fire. “It’s painful that this is happening among paisanos.” more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Police are questioning a resident of the Bensonhurst building that burned this weekend killing five Guatemalan immigrants, the AP reports. So far it's unclear whether the suspect in custody is the same captured in video footage released earlier today. Wearing dark clothes, he's shown arriving at the overcrowded building around 2 a.m. with a bag, and rushing from its door at 2:29 a.m. without the bag. Just one minute later someone reported the fire, which killed four men and the mother who tossed her two children from a third-story window. more ›

[UPDATE: GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW] As a Bensonhurst neighborhood still reels from a fire that killed five and forced one woman to throw her two children from a third-story window, there was a somewhat happier ending to a blaze in Harlem yesterday. Around 4 p.m., several people were trapped on the fifth floor of a five-story brownstone on 127th Street and Madison Avenue. The FDNY arrived at 4:21, and Deputy Chief Jim Hodgens tells the Daily News, "There were two people hanging from window ledges. They were ready to jump." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's plan to help balance the budget by eliminating up to 20 fire companies and letting 500 of the city's 8,500 firefighters leave through attrition would bring about the most dramatic reorganization of the fire department since the 1970s. "If we have to close 20 companies, which is a 6 percent reduction in the number of companies we have, it is going to tax us," said new FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano. "It is certainly the most challenging thing we have faced in decades." more ›

Arson investigators are looking into whether the Brooklyn fire that killed five on Saturday, and forced one woman to throw her two children from a third-story window, could have been sparked by a jilted boyfriend. A man seen fleeing the scene around 2:30 a.m., when the fire started, may have been owed money by a woman living on the second floor, some sources say. "We're treating it as a homicide," a police source told the Daily News. Meanwhile in Brooklyn as well as in Guatemala, where relatives of the fire's victims still reside, loved ones are mourning the immense loss. more ›