Former Fire Chief Arraigned Over Building Code Fraud Allegations

NEW CITY, NY — Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh announced the arraignment of a Spring Valley building inspector following the Rockland County Grand Jury indictments handed up this past week.

Raymond Canario, 45, faces charges stemming from the multi-agency investigation into the fatal fire at the Evergreen Home for Adults in March. Prosecutors said he filed false reports about the converted 1903 hotel where a firefighter and a resident died.

Canario was arraigned in Rockland County Court before the Honorable Kevin F. Russo Wednesday morning. Canario has been indicted on three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, 3 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the Second Degree, and 3 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree.

"Today’s arraignment is yet another step in the prosecution phase of this ongoing criminal investigation into the fatal Evergreen fire," Walsh said.

According to his profile on LinkedIn, volunteer firefighter Canario is a battalion chief in Rockland Hook & Ladder Company.

Wayne Ballard, the head of Spring Valley's building and public works departments and a former elected official in Clarkstown, has been indicted on similar charges. SEE: Grand Jury Indicts 2 Village Employees Over Fatal Adult Home Fire

The complaints against them cite reports filed for 2017, 2018 and 2019. Spring Valley Village Hall was raided in June by investigators seeking documents and records. Ballard and Canario both pleaded not guilty to felony charges in July in village court.

The two are still working although Spring Valley has suspended inspectors before for non-criminal allegations, The Journal News reported.

The adult home was destroyed in a massive blaze that killed firefighter Jared Lloyd and 79-year-old resident Oliver Hueston and injured about a dozen people. More than 100 people had to be rescued. Lloyd, 35, was rescuing residents when he sent out a Mayday call from an upper floor before it collapsed. He could not be reached.

Six people have been charged, and two others indicted by a grand jury: Rabbi Aaron Sommer and his father, Rabbi Nathaniel Sommer, who had conducted a pre-Passover kitchen cleaning hours before the conflagration which included using special blowtorches for which they did not have a permit to remove all traces of leavening from the facility's industrial ovens.

Ballard's arraignment date is Nov. 24. Canario is scheduled for a court appearance Dec. 8.