Tenants Seek Shelter After Second Fire

Hugh Friedman has searched for a place to stay after he was forced to evacuate his apartment building in Long Beach following a second electrical fire in a week.

Occupants of the apartments at 315 West Broadway were issued a mandatory vacate order at 2 a.m. Tuesday because the building was deemed temporarily unsafe.

Friedman said he has received no cooperation from the building’s owner, Boston House LLC of Old Westbury, about when residents could return to their apartments.

“I’ve gotten no answers,” he said.

Building Commissioner Scott Kemins said his department was forced to issue the mandatory evacuation because the city could not take a chance that electrical problems could spark another fire there.

“The residents are obviously not happy that they are being thrown out of their homes,” Kemins aid. “But I’d rather inconvenience them that way than have someone end up dying in a fire.”

Kemins said the building’s owner has contacted an electrician and occupants may be allowed to return to their apartments next Wednesday at the earliest.

But Friedman expressed skepticism about that timeline. “This could last two months,” said Friedman, a sheet metal worker who has lived in the building since June 2010. “I work in construction, I know.”

The first fire occurred at around 3 p.m. on June 21, in the walls of a bedroom closet of a second-floor apartment in the east wing of the building, fire officials said.

The second fire, which caused more damage and affected four apartments, broke out in a third-floor apartment in the west wing at about 8:30 p.m. on Monday. No one was injured in either blaze.

After the second fire, the electricity in the 42-unti building was shut down. The three-story apartment building houses about 60 people and many of the occupants had to seek temporary housing on their own by staying with friends or relatives.

Officials said the American Red Cross paid to relocate 21 adults and eight children in three area hotels. But those residents were allowed to stay for only two nights, said Sam Kille, a spokesman for the American Red Cross-Metro New York Region.

He said the city was helping some of the residents who are on public assistance while others were working out arrangements with the landlord.

Tenants were allowed into the building on Wednesday only to remove their most needy belongings. Among them was David Blumenthal, who has lived in the building for six years. After he was told he had to evacuate, Blumenthal went to stay at his brother’s house in Long Beach.

Friedman, who said he has slept in his car, is negotiating with someone he knows in Merrick to stay for up to $350 a week, and had to put his dog in an Island Park shelter at $240 a week because he could no longer take the pet with him.

Kemins said about $150,000 worth of electrical work was completed in the 84-year-old building in 2006. This time more extensive work may be required to rewire the entire building.

“I don’t believe there has been any negligence on the owner’s part,” said Kemins.  

He said that after the second fire the city requested that Boston House make the necessary electrical repairs and if it fails to do so, the owner could be summoned to court.

Boston House did not return calls for comment and the building’s superintendent declined to comment.

* Joseph Kellard contributed to this story.