By Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
Queens prosecutors won’t bring criminal charges in the case of a tragic 2001 Father’s Day fire in Astoria that took the lives of three firefighters, according to officials and attorneys involved in a lawsuit stemming from the incident.
Investigators probing the June 17, 2001, fire at Long Island General Supply Store said in a letter that there was a lack of “legally sufficient evidence” to support criminal charges, according to Bruce Kaye, an attorney with the Manhattan firm of Barasch McGarry, which is representing firefighters hurt in the blaze.
The decision by the staff of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown not to seek an indictment clears the way for further proceedings in a lawsuit begun against the hardware store, as well as other possible defendants, said Kaye.
Three firefighters — Brian Fahey and Harry Ford of Rescue Company 4, and John Downing of Ladder Company 163 — died as a result of injuries in the fire and the collapse of part of the structure at 12-22 Astoria Blvd. A number of other firefighters were injured.
Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for Brown, confirmed for Newsday yesterday that the letter had been sent recently to Kaye explaining the reason for declining prosecution. He had no further comment.
Officials said the fire started after a 13-year-old boy foraging behind the hardware store for spray paint knocked over a gasoline canister, sending fuel cascading toward a basement hot-water heater — making it the flash point for the explosive, fatal fire. At one point the fire seemed under control but it flared up again. After firefighters entered the premises, witnesses said there was a large explosion. A combination of the force of the blast and falling debris led to the fatal injuries for Fahey, Ford and Downing, officials said.
Paul Callan, an attorney for Long Island General Supply, said that nine injured firefighters and the father of one of the teenagers on the scene had filed lawsuits against the store. Callan said the litigation had been held in abeyance until Brown’s office made a decision about whether it was going to prosecute.
Depositions can now go forward in the case, said Callan, adding that he believed there wasn’t any negligence by his client.