Firefighter Accused of False Fire Alarms

A Bronx firefighter has been arrested for making calls about non-existent fires, apparently in protest of FDNY budget cuts that will eliminate a night tour at his City Island firehouse. Nicholas Vrettos allegedly made a dozen calls about fires, including one in a school cafeteria, on December 4 (when the cuts were announced). Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said, "You're taking a unit away from what might be a real emergency where somebody is having a heart attack or there's a fire or any other life-threatening emergency and that's the danger and that's why this is a felony," but a City Island resident, who did not condone calling in false alarms, told NY1, "If it in any way illustrated our plight, it at least had that effect." Vrettos could face up to seven in prison.