By T.J. Pignataro
The Buffalo News
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — An 8-year-old Niagara Falls boy was killed Friday afternoon after he and two other boys broke into an abandoned home and started a fire, neighbors and relatives of the victim told The Buffalo News.
The blaze was initially discovered by an off-duty Niagara Falls fire captain at about 3:45 p.m. and by the time firefighters arrived, there were heavy fire conditions in the rear of the 21/2-story wood house at 506 19th St.
“The fire was fully involved in two rooms on the first floor and on the upper floor,” said Niagara Falls Battalion Chief Dan Boland. “It’s a vacant, abandoned building.”
Boland said firefighters quickly knocked down the flames. Damage to the building was “extensive,” he said.
Neighbors and family members at the scene said the three boys — including two 10-year-olds — entered the building from a rear fire escape. Inside, one of the youths poured gasoline and another apparently lit the fire. The two 10-year-olds escaped.
Niagara Falls fire and police officials declined to confirm the reports. Police were interviewing the two boys and witnesses late Friday.
“There are a lot of little kids saying that, but we haven’t confirmed anything just yet,” Boland said.
Added Niagara Falls Police Lt. Michael Trane: “The cause is under investigation — it was an abandoned house. If it happened to be criminal in nature, we’d get involved. Right now, we don’t know.”
James Alfieri, who lived in a corner flat next to the fire scene at Ferry Avenue and 19th Street, identified himself as the father of the deceased boy. He said his child, Patrick Collura, was a third-grader at Harry F. Abate Elementary School in Niagara Falls.
Patrick, according to Alfieri, had just left school and was with his autistic older brother, Salvatore, 10, and another 10-year-old at the time of the fire.
Alfieri said all three boys entered the building, and the unnamed 10-year-old poured gasoline on the floor and told Patrick to light it. When he did, Patrick also caught fire.
An effort by Salvatore to rescue his brother proved unsuccessful and Patrick was unable to escape the burning building, Alfieri said. The boy’s body was recovered by firefighters.
Police on Friday said the boy had yet to be identified, pending the results of an autopsy.
Alfieri, battling back tears, said his son “loved wrestling [and] loved everybody” but “had a rough life.” He was in foster care for two years after being the victim of domestic abuse, his father said.
“He tried to help out everybody good,” Alfieri said. “He was going to grow up and be something.”
A 19th Street resident who lives across the street from the fire scene said he knows the unnamed 10-year-old and said police have been at the boy’s home before after he was caught throwing a brick through the window of 506 19th, which has been abandoned since 1998.
Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster, who was also at the scene, said officials were still trying to piece together details of what led to the fire. He acknowledged the building had been vacant and was owned by an absentee landlord from California.
Friday’s fire is just the type of tragedy the city has been trying to prevent with this year’s city landlord registry ordinance.
The new law requires all owners of residential rental or unoccupied properties to register with the city’s director of code enforcement in addition to mandating that out-of-town landlords designate a local property manager from Niagara or Erie county.
The law went into effect June 30. Dyster said it was unclear Friday whether the California-based landlord had complied with the new law.
“Vacant buildings are pretty close to the No. 1 problem in the City of Niagara Falls,” Dyster said. “Unfortunately, oftentimes [properties] are purchased by people from out of town.”
Ken Hamilton, who represents the Niagara Falls Landlord Association, said the city shares responsibility by auctioning off vacant properties that are acquired by out-of-town landlords, many of whom never see them first but are lured by the splendor of “Niagara Falls.”
“Our housing policy caused things like this,” Hamilton said.
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