Families of FDNY firefighters killed or injured in Black Sunday blaze in the Bronx awarded $183 million
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Monday, February 22, 2016, 11:05 PM
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SCHWARTZ, MICHAEL, FREELANCEThe infamous fire occurred at building on 236 E. 178th St. in the Bronx.
The families of five of the six firefighters who died or were critically injured in the infamous Black Sunday blaze in the Bronx were awarded a whopping $183 million in damages Monday.
In one of the largest verdicts ever against the city, a Bronx jury found it and the landlord responsible for the catastrophic injuries the Bravest suffered that day.
At the heart of the lawsuit against the city was a failure by the Fire Department to equip its firefighters with personal safety ropes that would have let the men escape from the burning building in 2005.
All firefighters used to have such ropes, but they were taken away five years earlier.
The jury assigned 80% of the blame for the tragedy to the city — meaning taxpayers will have to cough up $146 million unless the award is reduced on appeal.
HANDOUT
Lt. Curtis Meyran and FirefighterJohn Bellew were killed fighting the Bronx fire. Firefighter Joseph Dibernardo died six years later from injuries suffered in the blaze.
The blaze broke out just after dawn on Jan. 23, 2005, inside a tenement on E. 178th St. off the Grand Concourse.
Five firefighters and a lieutenant were trapped in an illegally subdivided apartment that was consumed by flames.
Unable to find their way out of the haphazardly constructed walls, the firefighters jumped five stories to avoid being burned to death.
Lt. Curtis Meyran, 46, of Battalion 26, and Firefighter John Bellew, 37, of Ladder Co. 27 were killed on impact. Firefighter Joseph DiBernardo — whose heels and feet were crushed by the impact — died six years later from the physical and psychological impact of his injuries, their lawyers said.
Firefighters Eugene Stolowski, Jeffrey Cool and Brendan Cawley survived but suffered life-changing injuries.
Meyran’s family settled his case separately, but the other firefighters, represented by lawyers from Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, went to trial and won the verdict after a panel of Appellate Division judges last year ruled that the city could not claim immunity.
"There were two important issues in this case,” said lead attorney Vito Cannavo.
“First it demonstrates that a governmental entity is not immune from liability when it fails to provide its firefighters, who put their lives on the line every day...with proper safety equipment,” the lawyer said.
MICHAEL SCHWARTZ FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSFirefighter Joe DiBernardo died six years after the fire from the physical and psychological impact of his injuries.
"Second, this case reaffirms clearly that the landlords are to be held accountable for turning a blind eye to unsafe conditions that exist in the building,” Cannavo added.
The Bronx jury deliberated for five days, mostly over testimony from former Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, who made the decision to take away ropes from firefighters.
Cannavo said Von Essen claimed that the rope’s extra three pounds would cause more heart attacks because firefighters were already carrying at least 31 pounds of equipment up flights of stairs.
But Von Essen could produce no studies showing that, the lawyer said.
He said the jury assigned the bulk of the liability to the city because fire officials admitted under oath that no one would have died and probably no one would have been injured if the firefighters had personal safety ropes on that day.
MARIELA LOMBARD FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSFirefighters at St. Joseph Church in the Bronx to pay their respect for the FDNY members who died in the blaze.
They could produce no documents supporting the decision to pull the ropes from the force.
“It was such a stupid mistake to take them from the firefighters. I forgive [Von Essen] but he's gotta ask God for forgiveness,” said surviving firefighter Cool.
Building manager Cesar Rios, 59, was found guilty in 2009 of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.
But his conviction was overturned a year later by a Bronx judge, who also vacated the conviction of the building landlord, a limited liability company called 234 E. 178th St.
Sources said the landlord settled with the family for $50 million before the Bronx jury announced its $183 million decision. Neither Rios nor the LLC owner, identified as Leslie Berman, returned calls Monday.
A spokesman for the city Law Department said the landlord deserves more responsibility for the blaze, and the city would review its legal options.
Since 2006, New York City firefighters have carried personal safety systems: a hook, a rope and a sliding mechanism.
Firefighter Richard Sclafani, 37, also died on Black Sunday in a Brooklyn blaze just hours after the Bronx tragedy.
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