April fire at Floral Park building ruled not suspicious; cause undetermined, Nassau fire marshal says
Firefighter at the scene of the April fire at a building on Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park that housed six businesses. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A fire on April 17 that destroyed a Floral Park building containing six businesses has been ruled not suspicious though the cause of the blaze cannot be determined, the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office said Tuesday.
"The damage to the building was so severe that investigators were unable to gain access to certain areas in order to investigate further and that, after multiple interviews with multiple sources, investigators found nothing pointing to anything suspicious in nature that might've been a factor in the fire," said Nassau Chief Fire Marshal Michael F. Uttaro.
The building, located at 266 Jericho Tpke., was built in the 1960s and had no fire alarm or sprinkler systems, Uttaro said. At the time, construction codes didn't require them. Hundreds of properties throughout Nassau County have been grandfathered in under old code requirements and are not required to meet new standards, he said
Uttaro said the evolution of fire safety equipment had led to major improvements in safety for residents, workers and firefighters in recent years, but it often took a dramatic event for officials to require owners to upgrade to new codes.
"We call it 'tombstone legislation,' " Uttaro said, "because often it takes some major event, usually with major damage or loss of life, to get codes and requirements changed."
Uttaro said an investigation of another major fire, one that destroyed a large office building at 1025 Northern Blvd. in Flower Hill on Feb. 4, was continuing and the cause of that blaze remains undetermined. That property, he said, had no sprinkler system and a rudimentary fire alarm system. Damage in that blaze has been estimated to be at least $11 million, he said.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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No bail for alleged CEO killer ... Suffolk cop back on duty ... Trader Joe's plans new LI store ... All LI football team
