Fatal fire site chronically unsafe?
Neighbor alleges dangerous conditions
In the wake of a fatal May 18 blaze that claimed the life of Baldwin firefighter Michael Esposito — the 21-year department veteran suffered a heart attack en route to the fire — Emery Jackson, who lives next door to the home that burned at 2870 Grand Ave., is alleging that dangerous conditions have existed on the property for at least a decade. Jackson said he had feared that a tragedy would occur there, even as hundreds of firefighters and neighbors were gathering to mourn the popular Esposito.
Jackson, who lives at 2860 Grand Ave., said that his aunt, Marie Lockwood, once owned the house, which was built over 100 years ago. He also says his intimate knowledge of the home’s layout derives from his family’s involvement in its construction. Jackson said he and others in the neighborhood have complained about illegal activities on the property for years.
Over the past decade, he said, 2870 Grand has been the site of illegal wrestling matches, public drunkenness and urination, pot smoking and even cockfights. According to Jackson, he and his neighbors complained about the house to town and county officials, and investigations had resulted in several citations. “They pulled 16 illegal beds out of there in 2004,” he said. “But new people just keep on moving into the house.”
Jackson said that the safety of the tenants at 2870 was a topic of conversation in the neighborhood prior to the fire. “We all said someone’s going to get killed in this thing,” he said. “We tried to get the town to shut it down. We know people have lived there with no heat for at least a few winters, and for the past five years a little girl and a handicapped boy have been living in these deplorable conditions. This is what we all feared most, and now it’s cost a fireman his life.”
The day after the fire, several residents of the Halandia Shores senior citizen facility, adjacent to the charred hulk of 2870 Grand, said they were aware of problems on the property. “We’ve complained about the noise and the music two or three times, but nothing too serious,” said a neighbor who asked not to be named as she swept her front walkway.
