New Jersey Family Seeks Records in Fatal Fire
From FireHouse.com
A lawyer for the parents of three children who perished in a Warren County fire wants to know whether the volunteer firefighters who responded were qualified to battle the blaze.
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John D. Feeley, attorney for Jack and Nicole Crincoli and a deputy fire chief with the City of Orange Fire Department, said a listing by the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety obtained a year ago showed that 19 Alpha firefighters had no record of certification.
A lawyer representing the borough and the volunteer fire department said yesterday that listing was not kept up to date. Attorney James McCreedy said the only firefighters not certified before the blaze were five junior firefighters who had only a limited role.
Feeley said it's important to find out whether the firefighters who responded to the March 18, 2004, blaze were trained, because having unqualified firefighters at the fire could have put people at risk.
"It's like putting a police officer on the street with a weapon who has never been trained how and when to use that weapon," he said after an appearance yesterday at the Warren County Courthouse in Belvidere.
Jack Crincoli was severely burned, but saved his 4-month-old son, Nicholas, and defied doctor's expectations by surviving himself. The father was hospitalized for nearly a year. Nicole Crincoli was working at her job at a local diner when the fire erupted.
Three other children - Ashley, 1, Sydney, 2, and 5-year-old Jacky Crincoli Jr. - died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning during the early morning fire that tore through the wooden three-story dwelling in Alpha. It was believed to be the deadliest event in the small borough just south of Phillipsburg.
Superior Court Judge Amy O'Connor yesterday told Feeley to narrow the scope of his subpoenas seeking firefighter records. Feeley said after the hearing that he would re-issue the subpoenas to try to pinpoint when databases were created for Alpha firefighters who took certification exams.
Feeley said he has "nothing but respect and admiration for firefighters, especially volunteer firefighters," and noted that he is looking not to blame, but for answers.
"This is a tragic story," he said. "Three children died at a very young age, and the mother and father suffer with this every day. We need to find out what happened. We need to establish that all of the proper steps were taken to save these children."
McCreedy, the Morristown attorney representing the borough, said of the responding firefighters, "Our position is that they were certified and they all went to the fire academy."
"They did what they were supposed to do," he added. "Everything I have seen suggests that they were primarily concerned with saving lives and property."
The Division of Fire Safety list which Feeley obtained was later updated to note that the Alpha firefighters were certified, McCreedy said. He added that they weren't on the previous list because it wasn't necessary to send the certificates to Trenton.
Also, volunteer firefighters in New Jersey are granted immunity and "can't be liable for how they fight a fire," McCreedy said.
Jack and Nicole Crincoli now live in Pennsylvania with 4-year-old Nicholas, and are expecting a child.
