Prosecutors Say Bronx Fatal Fire Site Had Illegal Wall
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Prosecutors revealed testimony Friday from a Bronx woman who rented out the apartment where two city firefighters died in 2005, as proof that the building had an illegal partition wall.
Lieutenants Curtis Meyran and John Bellew died after jumping from a fourth floor apartment during a January 2005 fire in the Bronx. Three people, including the landlord, have been charged in their deaths.
On Friday, the prosecution released sworn statements from Caridad Coste, who lived next door to the apartment where the fire happened.
In them, Coste says there was a partition wall in the apartment, a wall the district attorney says was illegal and trapped the firemen.
Coste says she even paid for the materials to build the wall, but says she does not know if the landlord, Cesar Rios, knew about the wall.
Rios's lawyer has argued his client did not know of any violations prior to the fire.