{"id":116002,"date":"2026-01-29T04:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/116002\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T04:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:15:18","slug":"man-accused-of-sparking-deadly-gas-explosion-in-the-bronx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/116002\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of sparking deadly gas explosion in the Bronx"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAYCHESTER, The Bronx (PIX11) \u2014 Four days after an apartment building explosion<\/a> in the Bronx\u2019s Baychester neighborhood, investigators say they have their suspect.<\/p>\n

FDNY fire marshals and the NYPD took Samuel Calderon, 55, into custody Wednesday night. Sources say the homeless man broke into his ex-girlfriend\u2019s apartment, stole the gas stove and allowed the building on Bivonia Street to fill with natural gas.<\/p>\n

More Local News <\/a><\/p>\n

A neighbor recalled the moment of the blast. \u201cWe smelled the gas, then the vibration \u2014 and boom,\u201d said Matrina Allen.<\/p>\n

Firefighters from Ladder Company 51 were inside the building, ventilating just after midnight Saturday, when the explosion occurred without warning<\/a>. Those same FDNY members later watched as Calderon was led away in handcuffs.<\/p>\n

Calderon has been charged with murder after tenant Ronald McAllister, 60, died in the inferno. \u201cHe was burned, second degree, his body totally burned. It\u2019s a catastrophe. It\u2019s a tragedy,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Fifteen other residents were injured. One remains in critical condition.<\/p>\n

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State <\/a><\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Department of Buildings has condemned the structure, leaving about 150 families displaced. \u201cThey moved them into shelters and hotels until things get fixed,\u201d said neighbor, Levonette Demitro.<\/p>\n

Sources say Calderon was hoping to sell the stolen stove for drug money. The incident has left residents shaken and raised security concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese doors have locks and are never locked. Anyone can come in,\u201d Demitro said.<\/p>\n

Another neighbor questioned how it happened. \u201cHow did someone who doesn\u2019t live here get in there and take a stove to cause an inferno?\u201d<\/p>\n

NYPD sources say Calderon has more than 25 arrests since 1987, including two felony burglary arrests in 2008 and 2022. His most recent arrest was in November for criminal contempt and violating an order of protection at the same building where Saturday\u2019s fatal fire occurred.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAYCHESTER, The Bronx (PIX11) \u2014 Four days after an apartment building explosion in the Bronx\u2019s Baychester neighborhood, investigators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,25923,51357,51356,51358,5588,9,24,63,103,51355,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-116002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-fire-marshals","tag-gas-stove","tag-ladder-company","tag-matrina-allen","tag-natural-gas","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-samuel-calderon","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}