Suspect allegedly tampered with stove before deadly Bronx fire, says official

NEW YORK – A 55-year-old man was arrested this week and accused of starting a

four-alarm fire at a public housing complex in New York’s Bronx borough

that killed one person and injured 14 others on the morning of Jan 24, according to the police.

The man, identified by the police as Samuel Calderon, had allegedly dismantled a stove inside the Boston Secor Houses in Bivona Street, starting a gas leak inside that soon led to flames, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter.

A 37-year-old man, whose name has not been publicly released by the authorities, remained in critical condition on the morning of Jan 29.

Calderon, who the police say is homeless, had entered an apartment in the building and allegedly begun taking apart a stove, the official said.

The ensuing events left one man dead. He was identified as Mr Ronald McAllister, a 60-year-old man who lived at the complex, according to the police. It was not immediately clear what had caused Mr McAllister’s death.

Calderon was charged on Jan 28 with murder, manslaughter, burglary and a slate of other charges in connection with the blaze and Mr McAllister’s death.

The fire, on the upper floors of a 17-storey tower, broke out early on Jan 24, just as a severe winter storm was inching towards New York. Roughly 150 homes were evacuated, forcing scores of residents onto the city’s freezing streets as firefighters battled the flames for hours.

The fire, and the resulting death, shone a light on the often dire conditions in New York City’s network of 2,410 public housing buildings.

Over the last two years, the Boston Secor complex, which includes four residential towers and houses nearly 1,180 people, has received nearly 50 complaints regarding maintenance issues, pests, and heat and power outages, according to records from the Housing Preservation & Development agency.

Multiple residents on the building’s upper floors said they began to smell a strong gas odour late on Jan 23. One resident, Ms Deloris Gaddy, who lives on the 15th floor, said she heard a whooshing sound and smelled a strong odour coming from her kitchen.

Firefighters responding to reports of a leak arrived at the building and began to check residents’ stoves and gas lines. While they were there, an explosion erupted, sending bricks flying and smoke billowing throughout the building, residents said.

While inside the building, firefighters discovered Mr McAllister and the 37-year-old man, who was unconscious.

Emergency medical workers who arrived soon after pronounced Mr McAllister dead and took the 37-year-old, who was in critical condition, to a nearby hospital. They also took five more people, all of whom were stable, to a hospital, the police said.

It was not immediately clear if Calderon had remained at the building after the blaze began, the official said. But on the afternoon of Jan 28, the police arrested and charged him in connection with the episode.

Ms Christine Marshall, 60, said on Jan 29 that she had lived on the floor below Mr McAllister for 15 years.

Mr McAllister had started using two canes to help him walk, Ms Marshall said. Still, she said, there were “no frowns on his face”, and he continued to go to work at the city’s Department of Social Services.

She would often see him in the lift before and after work, she said, and he would always stand back to let everyone else exit first.

“We would vibe together,” Ms Marshall said. “He was a wonderful, wonderful man.”

Despite his mobility issues, Mr McAllister was fiercely independent, she added.

Ms Marshall said she and her daughter raced down 15 flights of stairs to escape the building early on Jan 24. As the flames raged, and neighbours gathered out front, she never saw Mr McAllister emerge from the building.

“He didn’t have a chance to get out of there.” NYTIMES