Former city firefighter issued summonses following house fire

The city slapped a former career firefighter with two summonses on Monday after he allegedly performed unlicensed work on a home that officials claim led to a small fire.

Firefighters responded to a call for a house fire at 66 Boyd St. on July 6, at 2:37 p.m., where they discovered a minor fire on the second-floor of a rear exterior porch. The city said the fire caused no damage to the interior of the home.

City officials said that Greg Kavazanjian, one of several career firefighters who were laid off earlier this year, was performing work on the home. Officials said that Kavazanjian is not a licensed contractor, and he was issued summonses for performing renovations without a license or a permit. Both summonses are returnable at Long Beach City Court on July 17.

But Kavazanjian told Newsday that the code violations are part of a vendetta that the city has against him. The city’s allegations against Kavazanjian also come amid an ongoing imbroglio between the city and the firefighters’ union, which is suing the city over the layoffs. The city denied Kavazanjian’s claim.

Kavazanjian told the publication that he is not a contractor and was only helping his godfather replace a deck that had rotted after Hurricane Sandy, which his godfather confirmed to Newsday.

“The city has a vendetta against me,” he told Newsday. “I’m not a contractor. I don’t have a crew. They’re trying to blow it way out of proportion.”

The city said that Kavazanjian had been arrested in the past for both criminal possession of stolen city property and for shoplifting electrical items from Home Depot in Freeport, but the city and Kavazanjian disagreed over whether those misdemeanor charges were dismissed or had resulted in a guilty plea. Newsday reports those court records were not found.