By Erica Pearson
The Daily News
YONKERS, N.Y. — Police arrested an evicted tenant Saturday for arson in the blaze that killed a Yonkers firefighter.
Rafael Roldan became a bitter firebug after sneaking into his former home and finding his belongings in disarray, Westchester officials said.
“We do believe he is fully responsible for setting the fire,” said First Deputy Police Chief Charles Gardner at a news conference announcing the arrest. “He did implicate himself in the crime.”
Firefighter Patrick Joyce, a 39-year-old father of two, died early Friday battling the inferno.
He and two other firefighters were searching for victims when they were overwhelmed by massive heat and thick smoke. The three either jumped or fell from the top story of the three-story house, and Joyce was killed.
Colleagues Lt. Joseph Murray and William Kanych are in serious but stable condition. Everyone in the four-family home escaped safely.
Roldan, 33, had lost his factory job and was evicted four weeks ago after falling behind on his rent, officials said.
Police said he snuck into the house through a side window at 1 a.m. Friday before setting two small fires on the first floor.
Roldan has been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree arson and second-degree burglary, and is being held at the Westchester County Department of Corrections.
As police announced Roldan’s arrest, Fire Commissioner Anthony Pagano and dozens of firefighters stood with Joyce’s widow and two daughters.
At one point, according to the Journal News, Pagano turned to them and tearfully said, “We will be your family for the rest of your life. Right fellas?”
The firefighters said yes and applauded. “He was my best friend in life,” said Joyce’s twin brother, Peter Joyce, a fellow Yonkers firefighter.