By William Murphy
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
A Lindenhurst store where a firefighter was electrocuted on Friday had provided a letter from a licensed electrical contractor a day earlier certifying it had no problems, the village fire marshal said yesterday.
Lindenhurst Fire Marshal Richard Lyman said he had turned the letter over to Suffolk police, who are investigating the death of West Babylon firefighter Michael Greene.
Such a letter would conflict with the comments of an electrical inspector for the county. Robert Wass had said the electrified sign above Long Island Cheeseburger was not properly grounded. Greene touched the sign and was electrocuted.
Lt. Jack Fitzgerald of the Suffolk County Homicide Squad said yesterday the investigation is continuing, but declined to discuss the letter or Wass’ comments.
Lyman said he went to the store with firefighters on Tuesday when there was a fire near the roof of the store, in a mall at 350 Montauk Hwy.
The cause of the fire could not be immediately confirmed, so Lyman said he asked the store owner to have an electrical contractor check out the premises to rule out electricity.
“He provided a letter Thursday from a licensed electrical contractor. It was on the letterhead of a licensed electrical contractor,” Lyman said.
The fire marshal said he turned over all pertinent documents to police investigators. He declined to identify the contractor or provide a copy of the letter.
Greene was electrocuted the following day, Friday, when he and other members of the West Babylon Fire Department went to the store to remove a tarp they had left on Tuesday to cover a hole they had cut to ventilate the fire area.
Greene was on the upper rungs of a ladder when he touched the sign and was shocked, according to West Babylon Chief Vincent Senzamici.
No one answered the telephone at Long Island Cheeseburger yesterday. The owner of the mall, according to property records, is 350 E. Montauk Hwy., a company that lists Frank Liguori as a director.
Liguori did not return calls left yesterday at his business, Babylon Animal Hospital, which is also in the mall.
Lyman said Long Island Cheeseburger had operated at 119 W. Montauk Hwy. until last year, when it relocated to 350 Montauk Hwy.
He said he inspected the premises last year and found no violations.
He said he had inspected the old location in 2004 and cited the owner for having a burned-out bulb in an exit sign.