By Karla Schuster
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
NEW YORK — Invoking the names of two firefighters killed in a floor collapse last year, the City Council yesterday unanimously approved a new law requiring the Fire Department to be notified when a building is being renovated.
“Unforeseen complications can cost firefighters their lives,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, referring to the deaths of Lt. Howard J. Carpluk Jr. and firefighter Michael C. Reilly in a 2006 fire in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx.
“When work is going on, obviously a structure may be less sound and less secure, and that makes a collapse, like happened that day in the Bronx, more likely,” Quinn said.
Carpluk, 43, a 20-year-veteran from Yaphank, and Reilly, 25, of Ramsey, N.J., a rookie, were killed fighting a blaze in a single-story building that had been renovated to repair damage from a fire in 2000. The two men died when the floor gave way and they fell into the basement and were buried under fiery debris. Three other firefighters also were injured.
The new law requires the Buildings Department to notify the Fire Department when it issues what are called Alt-1 or alteration permits, which allow substantial changes to a building, such as adding a story or increasing the number of rooms on a floor.
“I’m glad to hear that and let’s hope that this is something that will save other firemen,” said Carpluk’s widow, Debbie. “It sounds to me like it’s a very logical thing that should have been done already.”
On Saturday, the town of Brookhaven plans to rename a street in Yaphank after Carpluk and the city also plans to rename a street in the Bronx after him.
Quinn and Councilman Miguel Martinez, chairman of the Fire Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, said the legislation emerged from discussions with the firefighters’ union about reforms after the deaths of Carpluk and Reilly.
“It’s a common-sense bill,” Martinez said. “It was amazing to me to hear the stories of what happens when firefighters are actually in a building fighting a fire. Not knowing about the structure, or any changes in the structure of building - it could be very dangerous.”