It has been more than a month since several people were hurt and eight households were left homeless after a fire tore through a building in Queens.
What You Need To Know
It has been more than a month since several people were hurt and eight households were left homeless after a fire tore through a building in Ridgewood, Queens
Benjamin Crump is demanding justice for more than two dozen people left homeless by the fire. Some of them were standing alongside him on Tuesday
According to FDNY officials, the fire broke out in a tire shop on the ground floor, quickly spreading to all three stories of the building
“Where these families lived for years, thinking that it was safe. We want to know, was it really safe?” civil rights attorney and activist Benjamin Crump said.
Crump is demanding justice for more than two dozen people left homeless by the fire. Some of them were standing alongside him on Tuesday.
“We want to make sure that these serious questions are answered about fire safety compliance, about the building maintenance, about the inspection history, and especially the presence of the large quantity of tires,” he said.
Jason Vasquez said he was home with his children in their apartment when the fire tore through their building in Ridgewood just after 4 a.m.
“We all damn near came to near death because I had to walk through a smoke hallway myself and try to find my way out with my two kids,” he said.
According to FDNY officials, the fire broke out in a tire shop on the ground floor, quickly spreading to all three stories of the building.
Enormous plumes of smoke and red flames towered over the structure for hours. The FDNY said the burning tires made it difficult to put out the fire, which left five people and four firefighters with minor injuries while eight households were displaced.
Crump, known for representing the families of victims in high-profile police brutality and racial injustice cases, including Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, is representing several of the injured, displaced fire victims along with co-counsel, The Injury Group.
Several of the families are currently living in shelters because they have nowhere else to go.
“We will go where the evidence leads us,” Paul Grinke, an attorney, said. “We are very concerned for these families who all inhaled a great amount of toxic smoke from the burning rubber tires.”
Vasquez and other former residents said that prior to the fire, large amounts of tires would often be left outside the building. NY1 reached out to the owner of the tire shop but has not received a response yet.
The Department of Buildings told NY1 that it did not issue any violations for the tire shop. According to the department, it did receive a 311 complaint in 2018 from someone who suspected it was not legal. However, upon inspection, the DOB determined that the tire shop was a legal business located in the correct zoning district.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, tire fires are difficult to extinguish and expensive to clean up — often becoming a major hazard to the surrounding community.
FDNY officials said they pumped hundreds of gallons of water on this fire and eventually used fire-retardant foam, but it continued to burn for hours.