Almost 300 mourners came out yesterday to celebrate the lives of the two brothers who perished in a Staten Island fire a week ago—one of whom was once named the High School Football Player of the Year by the Daily News. Seandale and Sha-Ron Gutter were placed side-by-side in their caskets during the service held at St. Philip's Baptist Church in Port Richmond. Their mother Lula Johnson-Gutter spoke at the service saying, "[God] knew if he left him behind, he would not survive and if he took Sha-Ron and left Seandale behind, he would not survived, because they were close that way. So he took them together and there they are together...These are my babies there and nobody knows how I feel. It's like I lost part of my life there." After there was initial speculation that the fire was suspicious, it's now believed to have been started by an electrical problem. more ›

Fire officials believe that an early Saturday morning fire that gutted a Staten Island home, killing two brothers, was suspicious: The Staten Island Advance reports, according to police and fire officials on the scene, "An accelerant appeared to have been used on the wood building's front porch." The blaze grew to five alarms and damaged other homes on Jewett Avenue. The Advance has a slideshow of the devastation. more ›