Super Says Sunday Fire Exit Clear

NY Post 1/31/09

The superintendent of the Bronx building where two firefighters died in the Black Sunday blaze contradicted FDNY testimony that their escape route was blocked.

Rafael Rodriguez testified that a refrigerator was not blocking a doorway to a bedroom during the 2005 blaze, which forced Lt. Curtis Meyran, 46, and firefighter John Bellew, 37 to jump to their deaths..

A lawyer for defendant Caridad Coste, charged with putting up the illegal partitions that prosecutors say blocked the way out, said Rodriguez's account "showed that [the firefighters] were lying," said attorney Francisco Knipping-Diaz.

"Everybody is looking for vengeance here," he said. "We've caught them in some outright, I don't know if I can call them lies, incorrect information."