Seton Hall Mass Commemorates 10th Anniversary of Deadly Fire

Current Seton Hall freshmen were in third grade when the fire that started in the early morning of Jan. 19, 2000 in Boland Hall took the lives of three students, but the tragedy is still fresh for those close to it.

"It's a date for all of us forever etched in the history of Seton Hall University," said university president Monsignor Robert Sheeran during a commemorative Mass held Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the university chapel to remember Frank Caltabilota, John Giunta and Aaron Karol, who were all 18 when they died.

During his homily, Sheeran spoke of an e-mail he had recently received from Dana Christmas-McCain, a resident assistant in the freshman dormitory who was badly burned in the fire after passing up opportunities to escape in order to make sure that others had evacuated safely. He recalled spending the day of Jan. 19, 2000 talking to the families of the three dead boys but crying for the only time when he visited a hospital burn unit and saw Christmas's condition. He prayed for her to live, and she ultimately pulled through.

"'That fire helped fine-tune my vision about life and about what God expects from us," said Sheeran, quoting Christmas-McCain's e-mail. (She was unable to attend the Mass.)

After Communion was given, Joe Karol, father of Aaron, came to the podium and noted that it had become "customary" for him to speak since the first annual Mass was held in 2001. He reflected on images that haunt him, including the last day he saw his son: Jan. 17, 2000, which was Martin Luther King Day. Aaron had spent the long weekend at home in Green Brook, N.J., and his parents dropped him off on campus on Monday night. Karol recalled rubbing his son's head instead of giving him his customary hug and kiss and joking that he'd see him in two weeks -- a joke in light of the fact that Aaron came home every weekend to see his friends, family and girlfriend.

"Little did we know that that would be the last time we'd see him," Karol said.

He went on to remember hearing news of the fire on the morning of Jan. 19 and driving over to campus, where he wound up with John Giunta's brother Peter, giving each other encouragement while they waited for information. The Giunta family was ultimately taken into a separate conference room, and Karol heard cries coming through the walls.

"In my heart, I just knew it was a matter of time before I would get the news about Aaron," he said.

A cadre of law enforcement officials were later joined by Monsignor Sheeran to tell him that his son had died, he recalled.

More than three years would pass before two students -- Joseph LePore and Sean Ryan -- were charged with starting the fire as a prank, and they weren't sentenced until 2007. (Ryan has since been released on parole.) While Karol characterizes their plea bargain agreement as "completely unsatisfying," he was relieved to finally have "some semblance of justice."

Karol ended on a note of hopefulness by remarking on positive developments of the last decade, including New Jersey's law requiring sprinkler systems for college dorms. He also noted that his daughter Melissa is now the mother of three children, all born in the last 10 years.