Caldwell Students Get Eye-Opening Visit From Arson Burn Victims

Editor’s Note: The following article comes courtesy of Mark Guiliano, a fire official for the Borough of Caldwell.

By Mark Guiliano

In January of 2000, a tragic fire occurred on the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange. 

That cold winter night, at 4:30 a.m., as it had dozens of times before, the fire alarm activated to alert dormitory residents in Boland Hall.

But this time, the cause of the alarm wasn’t smoke from burned popcorn, or a curling iron, or even overenthusiastic party goers celebrating the big basketball victory that night. This time tired students weren’t rushed out of their dorms only to be lined up and ushered back in minutes later after the alarms were reset. 

This time the fire was real, the smoke and heat were real. So real some students couldn’t see anything but blackness in the hall, and so hot it burned the clothes off their backs.  

Three students died that night, and over 50 were injured, four suffering critical burns. The fire was determined to be arson, a fraternity prank gone too far. Those responsible lied about their involvement for months but ultimately, as the investigation closed in on them, admitted their guilt in a plea deal and were sent to prison.

Two of the injured, roommates Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos remained in a coma, one for three weeks, the other three months. They were critically burned as they crawled through the darkened hallway that night, adrenaline they claimed pushing them through heats that reached 1,500 degrees.

Last month, James Caldwell High school hosted an assembly for their outgoing senior class sponsored by the Caldwell and West Caldwell Fire Prevention Bureaus. The guest speakers were Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos. Their “After the Fire” presentation gave the seniors a lot to think about as most of them head off to college, some leaving home for the first time.

Fire marshals Mark Guiliano and John Medina booked the high school presentation back in September after meeting Shawn and Alvaro at a presentation at Caldwell University.

The students' eyes were glued to the screen as they watched the heart wrenching documentary, "After the Fire" by Guido Verweyen, which chronicles the events that night, the investigation that followed and their long recovery.

But the lesson this day wasn’t just a lesson in fire safety as the graduating seniors begin another chapter of their lives. The lessons were about friendship, family, bravery, conviction, dealing with adversity and tragedy, and the power of the human spirit to overcome what happened that night and turn it into a positive.

After the presentation it was very impressive to see many of the students line up to give Shawn and Alvaro hugs.

Both fire marshals from Caldwell and West Caldwell agreed that the program was a huge success and will leave a profound impression on these young students.

The plan is to bring them back next year, the marshals said.

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Photo courtesy of Mark Guiliano