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ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Nearly 20 feet inside the smoke-filled former synagogue, the words of fellow firefighter Darin Lewis stopped David Abell in his tracks:
“I think this is booby-trapped.” That’s when Abell spotted the trip wire connected to two gallon-sized jugs of gasoline.
Abell recounted on Tuesday the chilling details of entering the building at 117 Jefferson Ave. early Friday morning and discovering it had been wired to kill. Officials say an arsonist rigged up an elaborate series of accelerants and trip wires inside the unoccupied former house of worship. Then, in the stairwell, the person set a fire — designed, officials believe, to lure and and then harm emergency responders.
Full story: Firefighter: Arsonist ‘expected me to die’