Rabbis Indicted Over Fatal Adult Home Fire

SPRING VALLEY, NY — Two rabbis who performed a pre-Passover cleansing of the ovens at the Evergreen Court Home for Adults have been indicted by a Rockland County grand jury on felony charges connected to a fatal fire that followed.

Aaron Sommer and Nathaniel Sommer will be arraigned Thursday in Rockland County Court before the Honorable Kevin F. Russo, said Peter Walker, Chief of Detectives for the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.

They both face charges of second-degree manslaughter, criminal negligent homicide, second- and third-degree assault; fourth-degree arson and second-degree reckless endangerment.

Two people died in the fire March 23: resident Oliver Hueston, 79, and firefighter Jared Lloyd, 35.

An attorney for the father-and-son duo denied they committed a crime, The Journal News reported. The two used a 20-pound propane-injected torch for the annual pre-holiday cleansing, the paper reported. They did not have a permit for it, TJN said. Read the entire article at lohud.com.

The Evergreen Court Home for Adults was a massive three-story building at 65 Lafayette St. The assisted living facility housed 112 residents.

Firefighters and others told the Journal News in April that the place, a converted hotel built in 1903, had been commonly considered a death trap.

Its fire alarm system had been turned to "test" because of the cleansing. The fire department was only dispatched after a 911 call about a smell of smoke.

The fire spread rapidly. Lloyd, who repeatedly entered the building and rescued residents, sent out a Mayday call from an upper floor before it collapsed, but he could not be reached.

In addition to the rabbis, the investigation has targeted two village employees and two Evergreen Court employees. The facility's director, Denise Kerr, and maintenance man Manuel Lema of Pomona face charges including reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation and obstruction of governmental operations.

Wayne Ballard, the head of Spring Valley's building and public works departments, and Raymond Canario, the village's chief building inspector and a volunteer firefighter, were charged with filing false reports after investigators seized village records.

SEE ALSO:

• Spring Valley Fire: 1 Dead, 11 Hurt, Firefighter Missing
• Fatal Fire: Sources Say Alarms Were Off For Pre-Passover Cleaning
• Village Hall Raided In Investigation Of Fatal Fire