{"id":127915,"date":"2026-02-09T19:48:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/127915\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T19:48:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:48:48","slug":"nypd-man-32-charged-with-arson-after-fire-at-apartment-building-on-staten-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/127915\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD: Man, 32, charged with arson after fire at apartment building on Staten Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A 32-year-old man was arrested following an alleged arson fire Sunday at an apartment building in Graniteville where a firefighter was injured, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

The FDNY fought the fire amid dangerously cold temperatures Sunday morning at 1300 Richmond Ave.<\/p>\n

Matthew Brower, who lives at the building, was charged with arson in the second degree in connection with the fire, according to a statement from the NYPD\u2019s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. <\/p>\n

An attorney for the defendant is not yet listed in public records.<\/p>\n

The fire was reported at about 6:40 a.m. on the first floor of the two-story apartment building, a spokesperson for the FDNY previously told the Advance\/SILive.com.<\/p>\n

About 80 fire and EMS personnel responded, bringing the blaze under control by 7:15 a.m., around half an hour after the call, according to the FDNY spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Four people were evaluated by EMS on the scene but refused transportation to a hospital.<\/p>\n

One firefighter was taken to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton with minor injuries, according to the FDNY.<\/p>\n

An Advance\/SILive.com reporter on the scene Sunday noted extensive damage to a front, lower-level apartment. Windows were broken, and fire and smoke caused extensive damage inside the apartment.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, a neighbor expressed concern for the apartment\u2019s resident. Words were scrawled inside the apartment on the bedroom wall, a mirror and a door. At least part of the writing said \u201cHillary Clinton\u201d on one wall and \u201cCDC\u201d in another section.<\/p>\n

On Monday, windows in the apartment with the most fire damage were boarded up. Firefighters from Ladder 86 were walking around the property. Some debris had been dragged to the curb.<\/p>\n

While ice was cleared from the front steps of the apartment unit, heavy sheets of ice remained on Monday around the fire hydrant near the street.<\/p>\n

\u2018They were crying\u2019<\/p>\n

Building residents on Monday described a chaotic scene as people rushed to evacuate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know there was a fire when I woke up,\u201d said Renee Grosso, who lives in a neighboring apartment to where the fire started. \u201cMy [smoke] alarm kept going off. People seemed confused and they were crying.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMost people were woken up I guess by smoke,\u201d said another neighbor who declined to have her name published. <\/p>\n

During the response, firefighters busted down a couple of doors. She was called by a friend in the building, \u201cso I came out and there were like 40 firefighters here. The whole block was cut off, there was cops here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"nwsOne firefighter was injured as the FDNY responded to a fire in a two-story apartment building at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday morning, Feb. 8, 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)\"nwsA damaged apartment after firefighters responded to a fire at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday morning, Feb. 8, 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)\"nwsDebris from an early morning apartment fire at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A 32-year-old man was arrested following an alleged arson fire Sunday at an apartment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-127915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127915","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=127915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}