Criminal Charges In Deaths Of Meyran and Bellew

[Guest]

Criminal charges are being brought today in the deaths of two firefighters who jumped from an illegally subdivided Bronx building that erupted in flames last year.

Eyewitness News has learned a Bronx grand jury has been probing the deaths, and hearing evidence regarding who owned the building and who ordered the illegal subdivision.

Prosecutors described the probe as a "complex undertaking," as investigators sorted out the ownership and the contracting of the renovations.

Officials say the indictment will be unsealed today during an arraignment at Bronx State Supreme Court. Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson will hold a news conference following the arraignment.

Two firefighters, Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew, died in the blaze at 236 East 178th Street on Jan. 23, 2005.

The Bronx fire led the FDNY to issue firefighters personal ropes that could have prevented the deadly four-story plunges. The entire department is expected to be trained and have them by June.

The two were among three firefighters who died in fires on that day, which has come to be known within the department as "Black Sunday."

(Copyright 2006 WABC-TV)

From www.7online.com

Edited March 29, 2006 by EM2FD

[Guest MRK303]

Manslaughter charges in fire that killed Pearl River firefighter

By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: March 30, 2006)

NEW YORK — Three people face manslaughter charges in connection with a fire that caused two firefighters, including a Pearl River father of four, to leap to their deaths last year, prosecutors said yesterday.

All three are accused of recklessly causing the deaths of Lt. Curtis Meyran, 46, and firefighter John Bellew, 37, who jumped from the fourth floor of a burning Bronx building when they became trapped while searching for people inside.

The corporation that owns the building also was charged in a five-count indictment unsealed in state Supreme Court in the Bronx.

All face two counts of second-degree manslaughter, two counts of criminally negligent homicide and charges of reckless endangerment.

The Jan. 23, 2005, blaze forced six firefighters to make the leap; four were critically hurt, including Jeffery Cool of Garnerville. Prosecutors said partition walls built to create more bedrooms blocked their access to a fire escape.

One of those charged, tenant Rafael Castillo, is accused of illegally subdividing his third-floor apartment and overloading an electrical outlet where a failed extension cord sparked the blaze, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said.

The fire began when the extension cord overheated and caused a short, igniting a bed in Castillo's apartment, prosecutors said.

Cool, 39, who has spent the past year recovering from critical injuries, testified before a grand jury in the Bronx last month. He said yesterday that the arrests were a "landmark" that would "have a significant impact on future cases on single-room occupancies in the city."

"When they put these illegal walls up, not only do they jeopardize firefighters' safety, but also the tenants' safety," Cool said. "It's showing me that justice is going to be served for Curtis Meyran and John Bellew and their families. That's a good thing. I wish it never would have happened in the first place."

Cool said many firefighters in the past had expressed concerns about buildings with illegal walls that create a maze for firefighters and put them in harm's way.

"Those are the most deadliest buildings in the city," Cool said. "You never know what you're getting into."

Castillo, a livery cab driver and citizen of the Dominican Republic, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday. His lawyer, Sam Braverman, said his client "doesn't concede he caused the fire or spliced the extension cord."

The other two people charged were Caridad Coste and Cesar Rios, prosecutors said. Coste leased the fourth-floor apartment from which the firefighters jumped, but did not live there; Rios was the building's former owner.

Prosecutors said the third- and fourth-floor apartments were three-bedroom units illegally divided into five bedrooms with locks on each bedroom door.

John Sullivan, Bellew's battalion chief at the FDNY's Ladder 27, said the indictment was a "little bit of vindication."

"They'll have to pay the price," said Sullivan, who moved to Pearl River in part because John Bellew told him it was a good place to raise a family. "This entire tragedy was about greed. The landlord and the tenants were greedy. They so callously put all of the guys' lives at risk. These guys went in there with the best of intentions."

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said firefighting was made more dangerous "when living spaces are illegally carved up by individuals who are motivated by greed."

"This activity poses a threat not only to our firefighters but to the individuals living in these unsafe conditions," he said in a statement provided by prosecutors.

One of the city's fire unions applauded the indictment.

"This should be a shot across the bow for every landlord in New York City that does illegal renovations that can endanger the lives of firefighters and the civilians we are sworn to protect," Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Fire Association, said in a statement.

Information on lawyers for Coste, Rios and the corporation, which was not named, was not provided by prosecutors.

The most serious charge, manslaughter, is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Cool also blamed what he called greedy landlords for the tragedy.

"We wouldn't have been where we were," he said. "They kill two men, severely injured four men and turned the lives of six families upside down."

[JBE 328]

And Von Essen, who ordered the ropes taken away in 2000, walks away scot free. No justice in this world.

[FDNYDCHI 38]

At least its a start...........With every Tragity in the fire services new codes get written up which is too little to late.. Just my thoughts in the land of fire pervention...

[Guest]

The deaths of those fine FF's could have been avoided it common sense was applied, There are to many apartments today being shared well beyond thier limit

From www.7online.com

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