The Wall Street Journal – October 05, 2015
by Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Thomas MacMillan
One person remained unaccounted for Sunday as authorities sifted through debris from a fatal explosion and fire that tore through a three-story building in Brooklyn’s Borough Park, officials said.
City fire officials said the blast Saturday afternoon at 4206 13th Ave., which killed one person and injured 13, may have been caused by a tenant who removed a high-end stove from the building’s second floor while moving out, possibly disturbing the gas line.
The unaccounted-for person was identified Sunday by a family member as Francesca Figueroa, a 47-year-old woman who lived on the building’s second floor.
Ms. Figueroa’s sister, Niurca Figueroa, said her sister worked at a salon in Park Slope and had been moving out of her apartment. Standing near the remains of the still-smoldering building Sunday, Niurca Figueroa choked up. “Nobody found my sister,” she said.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said the missing woman was moving out of the second floor but it wasn’t clear if she was removing a stove.
City officials on Sunday afternoon did identify the woman who was found unconscious in the building’s stairwell Saturday, and later died, as 64-year-old Ligia Puello. Lourdes Rivera, a family friend, said Ms. Puello had a daughter who lived with her but was away in Santo Domingo at the time of the explosion.
“I’ve been crying all night,” Ms. Rivera said. “We know that she’s in heaven. She was a precious person.”
The city fire department suspended its search Sunday due to concerns about the building’s structural stability.
A little before 5 p.m. Sunday, workers began tearing down both 4206 13th Ave. and the adjacent structure at 4204. Officials used a search dog to inspect debris after using heavy equipment to scoop it up and then spread it on the street.
Of the 13 people injured, one sustained serious injuries, one had moderate injuries and 11 were being treated for minor ones, officials said.
In the wake of the blast, officials called for more attention to gas safety in the city, citing multiple gas-related explosions in recent years. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday ordered a state agency to investigate the cause of the blast, drawing comparisons to recent fatal explosions in Harlem and the East Village.
Mr. Adams said he was planning a Brooklyn-wide safety campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of gas lines. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize something isn’t flowing right,” he said.
Holding up a small valve used for shutting off gas, Mr. Adams said at a news conference Sunday that the removal and installation of gas devices in the city were sufficiently regulated. He said the city council should look into the need for more oversight.
City Councilman Jumaane Williams, chairman of the Committee on Housing and Buildings, promised to take up the issue. “We can’t just sit idly by and wait, we have to be proactive.”
Tenants of five buildings including the blast site have been ordered to evacuate, officials said, and the streets around the site have been closed to traffic.
Councilman Brad Lander said a resident support center has been established at P.S. 164 and the city is starting to work on a community-relief effort to raise funds for victims and their families.
He said 26 people were offered placement by Red Cross Saturday night, and 20 were put up in hotels.
Authorities haven’t officially confirmed Ms. Figueroa as the unaccounted-for resident. They said the missing woman’s cellphone signal had been traced to the building, but had since gone dead.
Among the injured was a 34-year-old man who was walking by the building Saturday. He sustained a non-life-threatening but serious injury.
The building’s ownership couldn’t immediately be determined through city records, nor could the total number of tenants who lived there. City housing and building-department records showed no sign of gas-related violations in recent years.
The blast comes on the heels of an August explosion at a Bronx high school, which authorities said was sparked by workers who lighted a match to test a gas line.
In March, two people died after an explosion and fire in the East Village leveled three buildings. Authorities are investigating whether illegal gas diversion may have been to blame.
— Mark Morales contributed to this article.
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