Cops: Levittown man faces fireworks charge after fire leaves 4 homeless
A Levittown man faces multiple charges in connection with a fire at his house Thursday that left four residents of two apartment units inside homeless. Credit: Lou Minutoli
A Levittown man was arrested and charged Thursday after he “supplied an 11-year-old with fireworks and instructed the child to ignite it,” then the firework malfunctioned, causing a fire that left four people homeless, according to authorities.
No one was injured, but the fire, which started in a shed in the yard and spread to the man's adjacent house, caused extensive damage, according to a news release from the Nassau County Police Department.
Arrested was Karamjit Singh, 33, the release said. His relationship if any to the 11-year-old wasn't disclosed, nor was it disclosed whether the fireworks had been lit at the time of the explosion and if so, who lit them.
Singh was charged with arson; unlawfully selling fireworks to a person under 18; unlawfully possessing, using or exploding fireworks; and endangering the welfare of a child, the release said. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at First District Court in Hempstead. Singh could not be reached for comment.
Damage from the fire made the house, on Red Maple Drive, uninhabitable, said James Hickman, Nassau County assistant chief fire marshal.
A nearby house was also damaged, but the occupants were on vacation, Hickman said.
The fire started at about 10:25 a.m. and was under control by about 11:15, he said.
Four fire departments with 60 firefighters worked on the scene, he said.
A woman was in one of the units; a family of three was in the other, he said. No one’s name but Singh’s was disclosed.
The shed was in the yard and detached from the house, a two-story Cape.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireworks caused an estimated 31,302 fires in 2022, including 3,504 structure fires, 887 vehicle fires, 26,492 outside fires and 418 unclassified fires.
Separately, a Plainview man, Cheng Wu Wang, 49, was ticketed just after noon Thursday and charged with unlawfully selling fireworks in Inwood at a discount store, the police department said in a second news release. The store is at 581 Burnside Ave.
“Officers observed illegal fireworks for sale,” said the release, which didn’t give specifics of Wang’s relationship to the store.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
Have a whirlwind weekend in Saratoga with Newsday travel reporter Scott Vogel
Have a whirlwind weekend in Saratoga with Newsday travel reporter Scott Vogel