pre-01' News Archives
Five Children Die in Garage Apartment Fire
By Lawrence Van Gelder June 29, 1994 The New York Times
Five children ranging in age from 6 months to 12 years died yesterday when a smoky predawn fire consumed two apartments over the garage of a funeral home in Riverhead, L.I.
Three adults, including two mothers, survived by hurling themselves through windows to the ground, where a neighbor said he could hear the women screaming: "Our babies. Our babies are inside. You have to save them."
But neither neighbors nor the efforts of 70 volunteer firefighters could overcome the smoke and flames that killed the children in their bedrooms.
Dan Willis, who lives next door at 713 Harrison Avenue, said he was watching television and was about to go to bed when he heard the commotion outside. "To hear women screaming like that for their kids was terrible," he said. He dialed 911 and tried to save the children, he said, but was forced back from the building by the dense smoke and heat.
Mr. Willis said the victims of the fire had lived in the building for three months at most, adding, "They were pretty good kids."
The fire broke out shortly after 4 A.M. at 711 Harrison Avenue, across from Riverhead High School, in a building behind the Seay Memorial Chapel, a funeral home. The Suffolk County police said they were investigating the possibility of arson, and neighbors speculated that the fire might have been set by the ex-boyfriend of a former resident of the apartments.
But as a trained dog sniffed for accelerants that might have fueled the blaze, Detective Sgt. Edward Fandrey of the Suffolk County police brushed conjecture aside, saying only, "Right now, we're dealing with the tragic death of five very young people."
Although neighbors wondered if the building, with only a single entrance and exit, met safety standards, Dennis Nowak, assistant to the county's social services commissioner, said that it had been inspected within the last three months and that "we didn't observe any health or safety violations."
Mr. Nowak, who said state law barred him from saying whether the building's residents were receiving public assistance, added that the inspection found that the apartments had smoke detectors and a fire exit.
Authorities identified three of the dead as children of Roger Gregory and Tina Fay, both 25: Raheem, 6 months; T'Keyah, 23 months, and Roger, 3. Also killed were Anthony Price, 3, who was the son of Tammy Price, 22; and Letitia Booker, 12, who was found with the children in the apartment of Mr. Gregory and Ms. Fay and identified by the police as a baby sitter.
Of the adults, Ms. Fay was the most seriously injured. She was in critical but stable condition at the burn center of Stony Brook Medical Center, where a spokeswoman said she had suffered second-degree burns of her shoulders, arms and face that covered 15 to 20 percent of her body.
Ms. Price and Mr. Gregory were in stable condition at Central Suffolk Hospital in Riverhead. Ms. Price sustained first- and second-degree burns of her face and forearm, and Mr. Gregory had second-degree burns on his back and hand.
Some neighbors speculated that the fire had been started by the abusive former boyfriend of a woman who lived in one of the garage apartments until a few months ago and who visited Tina Fay frequently.
April Blanton, 12, a friend of Letitia Booker, said of the man: "He's crazy. Somebody messing with him, he'll start a fire." Several other youngsters echoed her.
The police said all fires resulting in death are investigated for homicide.
Sergeant Fandrey said Ms. Price woke up smelling smoke around 4 A.M. in her apartment in the building, which is constructed of cinder block topped with wood framing and asbestos siding. Leaving her son behind, she ran next door to alert Mr. Gregory, but she was unable to return to her apartment to get the boy.
At the Seay Memorial Chapel, an unidentified woman who answered the telephone said the building, which also serves as a four-car garage, was owned by Carlton Seay. Mr. Seay could not immediately be reached for comment.
April Blanton, who lives at 759 Harrison Avenue, described Letitia Booker as her best friend. "We were playing cards and stuff, laughing and joking last night," she said. "I was going to spend the night over there, but then my mother said no. She had a feeling something would happen."
story update...
Man Sentenced to 125 Years for Fire That Killed 5 Children
By John T. McQuiston May 15, 1996 The New York Times
It was 3 A.M. last June 28 when the police say Raymond D. Smith set fire to a stairwell leading to his estranged wife's apartment here on Lincoln Avenue, hoping the flames would force her to turn to him for help.
Five children were killed in the resulting blaze, trapped in another apartment on the same floor after Mr. Smith fed the fire with gasoline, and today Mr. Smith was sentenced to 125 years in prison for their deaths.
The three mothers of the five children spoke of their pain and loss in emotional statements to the court this morning shortly before Mr. Smith, 33, was given the maximum sentence.
"You should have died on the night of the fire," Tina Fay, who lost three children -- Roger Gregory Jr., 3; T'Keyah Gregory, 1, and Raheem Gregory, 6 months -- said to Mr. Smith. "We will carry this pain for the rest of our lives."
Tammy Price, who was badly burned in the fire that killed her son, Anthony, 3, called on Judge Charles Cacciabaudo of Suffolk County Criminal Court to make certain that Mr. Smith spent the rest of his days in jail.
Directing her anger at Mr. Smith, she said, "You should have a cup of gasoline poured on you and set afire so you could feel the pain that those kids felt on that day."
Ruby Booker, the mother of Letitia Booker, 11, who also died in the fire, called on the judge to make certain that Mr. Smith "would never get to do this to another family."
The arson was the second-largest murder case in Suffolk County history, after the 1974 case that became known as the Amityville Horror in which Ronald DeFeo Jr. was convicted of murdering six members of his family.
A key piece of evidence that helped the jury to convict Mr. Smith of murder and arson in March was a detailed confession.
He later recanted, saying investigators pressured him into making the confession, but the jury rejected that claim.
In another switch that had a significant impact on the jury, Mr. Smith's estranged wife, Victoria Smith, 25, who was not at home on the night of the fire, tried to provide an alibi for Mr. Smith.
She said she was with him that night, contending that he had no reason to start such a fire.
Mrs. Smith's alibi was initially supported by testimony by a friend of hers, Karen O'Neal. But just before the end of the trial, Ms. O'Neal took the witness stand again and told the jury that she had lied and that Mrs. Smith had urged her to do so.
Mrs. Smith was subsequently charged by a Suffolk County grand jury with five counts of first-degree perjury and one count of second-degree perjury.
She was arraigned on May 3 and released on $1,000 bail. She is to return to court on Monday and faces up to 38 years in prison if convicted.
Judge Cacciabaudo, in sentencing Mr. Smith, said: "I have no sympathy for you at all, Mr. Smith. You took the lives of five innocent kids."
In a brief, rambling statement, Mr. Smith continued to insist he was not guilty and said he planned to appeal his conviction.
His lawyer, Steven J. Wilutis, said his client, a home care worker for the elderly, was sorry that the children had died in the fire. "But he does not express that sorrow as the person who set the fire," Mr. Wilutis said.
District Attorney James M. Catterson said he was certain there would be no reversal because the case against Mr. Smith was so strong. "This is just a tragedy all around," he said. "An adult might have been able to get out of that burning apartment, and some did, but the children couldn't. They didn't have a chance."
Fire Strikes Chemical Plant
by Cheryl Clark 03-26-1992 News Review
Truetech blaze leaves some workers out in the cold for now
As if the unemployment caused by the recession weren't enough, a fire Saturday morning partially halted one of the more significant job-creating projects to come up locally in the past year.
It took eight hours for Riverhead volunteers to extinguish the fire in a processing oven at Truetech Inc. on Elton Avenue. Several chemicals - magnesium, sodium chloride and silica polyethylene - that had dripped into the 60-foot oven ignited, company officials told police.
"They had someone cleaning out the oven Saturday, and they heated it up to make it easier to clean the magnesium out of there," said Riverhead Fire Department Chief Andre Kosianowski. "We're pretty sure that's what caused the fire."
The oven was used in the manufacture of flameless ration heaters, which are lightweight, disposable plastic-enclosed packets activated by water to heat food for the military. The U.S. defense department hired Truetech in February to manufacture more than 25 million of the heaters - the same type as those used by soldiers in the Persian Gulf War. The $12.5 million Pentagon contract created about 100 jobs with hourly wages starting at $5.20.
Truetech officials are "still assessing the whole thing" and are not sure how long the partial work stoppage caused by the fire damage will continue, according to personnel supervisor Joel Hockett. He confirmed that some workers are losing income, but said he did not know how many employees were affected or for how long.
Police evacuated a few residents in the vicinity of Truetech as a precaution, but called the chances of any health hazard from the chemical smoke "remote."
One firefighter was injured slightly when a cinder flew into his eye, but none of the 60 or so volunteers who worked the fire in shifts had to be treated for smoke inhalation or other injuries,...
(See Fire, page 19) (page 19 could not be found, if you have it, please send me a copy for this site- RK)
Child is Killed in Trailer Fire
by Collin Grattan 08-02-1991 Suffolk Life
A seven-year-old Riverhead girl was killed Friday morning on Northville Turnpike when the trailer she was living in was destroyed by fire.
Riverhead Town Police received a call at 1:55 a.m. on Friday that a trailer on Northville Turnpike in Riverhead was on fire. When police arrived, the trailer was "fully involved" in flames, according to Police Detective Brian Keller.
Three of the occupants of the trailer, Richard Griffin, 30; Betty Houston, approximately 30, according to police, and Keshel Griffin, three, were standing outside of the trailer and had made their way to safety when the Riverhead Fire Department arrived, police said.
A fourth person, Kendra Griffin, seven, was found inside the trailer and pronounced dead at the scene by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office. The Riverhead Police Detective Division and the Suffolk County Arson Squad continue to investigate.
Neighbors of the trailer called in the report of a fire to Riverhead Police, according to Detective David Hegemiller.
Riverhead Fire Department Chief Andre Kosianowski said his department was informed on route to the fire that there were four people living in the house, and when they arrived they were informed that three of them had been located outside of the trailer.
Kendra Griffin, Kosianowski said, was found on her bed inside the trailer, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Approximately 60 firefighters fought the blaze, with the fire being brought under control at approximately 2 a.m., about 30 minutes after firemen reached the scene, he said.
Fire department personnel remained on the scene until approximately 5:50 a.m. to assist police and the arson squad in their investigations, Kosianowski said.
What made fighting the fire difficult, Kosianowski said, was the proximity of the trailer to houses on both the north and south side of the trailer. Power lines on the south side of the trailer had been burnt through, and were "live," he said.
Firemen were then forced to fight the fire from the north side of the trailer, which was separated by only about 10 feet from the house bordering on the north, Kosianowski said.
According to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office, the cause of death to Kendra Griffin was smoke inhalation and thermal injury.
Fire Razes Pool Store
07-17-1991 Suffolk Life
A fire in Riverside last week destroyed a swimming pool showroom, injured two firefighters and forced the evacuation of more than 20 families from Riverleigh Avenue, Vail Avenue and Pine Street.
It took 125 firefighters with about a dozen pieces of equipment four hours to extinguish the blaze at Patriot Pools Inc., 454 Riverleigh Avenue, which was in full force when the first units arrived at 3:24 p.m. Wednesday.
The Flanders Fire Department assisted on the scene, and units from the Jamesport and Westhampton Beach fire departments were on standby in Riverhead. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but a spokesperson for the Southampton fire marshal's office said it is believed that the fire started in a faulty neon light fixture.
No civilians were injured, although small amounts of pool chemicals, including chlorine and hydrochloric acid, combusted in the blaze, causing "very heavy smoke conditions and the possibility of toxic gases," according to Riverhead fire chief Andre Kosianowski.
Thirty firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion brought on by both the flames and the temperature, which was in the high 80s. One Riverhead firefighter, Scott Lambert, was held overnight at Central Suffolk Hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation. Another fireman, Donald Owen, was released after being treated for second-degree burns on his arm.
What First-Due Engines Saw
The Remains
The First Commercial Jet Crash in US History
08-15-1959
Boeing Airliner Crashes in Calverton, NY
American Airlines Flight 514 (Flagship Connecticut), a Boeing 707 was on a training flight ending at the Peconic River Airport, NY, now known as Calverton Executive Airport, when during descent the plane began a barrel roll to the right, yawed and crashed in flames after the pilots shut off the engines to simulate a flameout. All 5 crew onboard were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be the failure of the crew to recognize the yaw.
An American Airlines Boeing 707 Jetliner crashed in a farmer's field at Calverton, seven miles from Riverhead on August 15th, 1959. The big jet was on a training flight from the Grumman Aircraft Corporation field here. The New York State Police said five persons were aboard the plane, and all perished in the crash.
This was the first crash of a 707 since they went into service late last year. However, mishaps and malfunctions have caused emergencies aboard 707's on eight earlier occasions.
American Airlines Boeing 707
All uncredited photos are from RVFA Archives