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Jurors deciding the fate of tenants who lived at the apartment in Mount Hope deliberated for an hour Monday before they recessed.

Prosecutors say tenants Caridad Coste and Rafael Castillo built illegal partitions in their apartment – which ended up trapping city firefighters Curtis Meyran and John Bellew during the blaze.

The firemen were forced to jump from the fourth floor and later died from their injuries. Officials said an overloaded electrical outlet caused the fire.

The tenants are charged with manslaughter, criminally-negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. However, their lawyers have blamed frozen fire hydrants, broken water hoses, and other equipment problems for the deaths.

A separate jury is hearing the case against the building's owner and landlord, Cesar Rios.

Today, the jury heard closing arguments in the case. The summations were forced to wrap up early because of an illness and are scheduled to resume tomorrow.

Rios' attorney has said his client did not know of any illegal partitions prior to the fire.

“Tenants are the ones who erected the walls, and in Castillo’s case, putting all that electricity that was badly wired that caused the fire,” said Neal Comer, the attorney for 234 East 178th Street LLC. “We didn’t do anything of that nature, and in fact, the facts were hidden from us.”

Two firemen who survived the fire were in court today, as were the lost firemen's widows.

“This is very upsetting, I’m trying very hard to keep my senses and my wits about me,” said Jeanette Meyran, Curtis's widow. “I’m exhausted, it’s been emotionally draining.”

The two juries will continue deliberating on Wednesday.