Results tagged “firefighterfatality”

A jury found a Bronx building's former owner and its current owner guilty of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment for a 2005 apartment fire. The apartment had been subdivided, creating a fatal warren for firefighters to navigate; six firefighters ended up jumping out of a 6th floor window, with two, Lt. Curtis Meyran and firefighter John Bellew (pictured), falling to their deaths. A firefighter told NY1, "We were very satisfied today with this decision from this jury here. It's not a reason to celebrate in any way, it doesn't bring John or Curt back. We're still very disappointed with the decision from Friday. All I can think is that jury made a very dangerous job that much more dangerous with their decision," in reference to last week's not guilty verdict for the tenants who subdivided their spaces.

The Staten Island Advance reports that "more than 5,000 firefighters lined" the street before the funeral for FDNY Lieutenant Robert Ryan. Ryan, who suffered serious burns while battling a 2006 fire but still returned to work, died on Sunday at age 46 while responding to a house fire on Staten Island. His wife Kathleen told the firefighters in attendance, "As much as you loved him, he loved you. The job was his life, and you guys were the reason he was a rich man." Mayor Bloomberg, who also spoke, referred to Thanksgiving, "There is something to give thanks for and that is we were lucky enough to have Bobby Ryan on this earth protecting our City, even if the time that he had here was much too short."

The bravery and dedication of Fire Lieutenant Robert Ryan are remembered as his funeral arrangements are set for this week. Ryan, a 17-year FDNY vet who worked in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, died in a Staten Island fire yesterday morning.

The Fire Department released its report into the fatal seven-alarm fire at the former Deutsche Bank building yesterday, and there doesn't seem to be one focus for the blame. Instead, there are many: Per the Daily News, it "blames the FDNY for not conducting mandatory inspections; the Buildings Department for not issuing a formal permit for demolition and the building's contractor for shoddy work that turned the condemned skyscraper into a death trap."