One person was killed and six firefighters were injured after a fire broke out at an apartment building in New York City on Monday. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) — One person was killed and six firefighters were injured after a multi-alarm fire broke out in an apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on Monday.
The fire started around 7:15 p.m. at a six-story residential building located between York and East End avenues on 82nd Street, according to a statement from fire officials.
When FDNY crews arrived to the scene, they reported heavy fire on the fifth and sixth floors.
The flames eventually extended down to the fourth floor, as well, officials said.
Crews stretched multiple hose lines and had to pull apart walls to fight the flames, according to a spokesperson for the FDNY.
The fire was elevated to three alarms around 7:40 p.m.
About 138 FDNY and EMS personnel responded to the blaze, representing 33 emergency response units, officials said.
FDNY officials say one civilian was killed, while six firefighters suffered minor injuries.
“You know, the art and skill of a firefighter is inherently dangerous,” a spokesperson for the FDNY said on Monday night. “It’s a cold night, we have a lot of water going on, we have ventilation — windows breaking, we have a lot of fire and smoke. So, thank God, all the [injuries] seem to be minor at this time.”
The civilian, who has not yet been identified, was found in the hallway of the fifth floor, the spokesperson said.
The fourth, fifth and sixth floors all suffered heavy damage from smoke and fire, and other parts of the building were damaged from the water.
Multiple apartments were impacted.
The FDNY said that an MTA bus was going to shelter some of the victims whose homes were affected until they could be “properly relocated.”
Fire marshals will continue to investigate the cause of the fire.
(NEW YORK) — The Menendez brothers face the possibility of freedom after serving more than 30 years in prison, with their case being reviewed for possible resentencing by the Los Angeles County District Attorney following the emergence of significant new evidence.
On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, gunned down their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. Jose Menendez was a wealthy 45-year-old entertainment executive, while 47-year-old Kitty Menendez was a homemaker.
The brothers were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted at their second retrial, following mistrials in the first trial.
“It was from the jump, one of the biggest cases in Los Angeles and in the country; no one could believe that these two young men had killed their parents this way,” ABC’s Terry Moran, who covered the trial, told “Impact X Nightline.”
The fact that they killed their parents 36 years ago was always clear. However, the reason they did it has always divided and captivated the nation.
During their initial trial, defense attorney Leslie Abramson contended that Lyle and Erik shot their parents in self-defense. She argued that the brothers feared their parents would kill them if they disclosed the years of alleged molestation they had suffered at their father’s hands.
The first trial ended in a mistrial on Jan. 13, 1994, due to a deadlocked jury. After a second trial, the brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder in 1996 and received two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.
A fresh legal filing has been submitted with even more distressing details of Jose Menendez’s alleged abuse.
According to the brothers’ attorneys, Erik Menendez penned a letter describing his father’s alleged abuse to his cousin.
Another alleged victim of their father, a former member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, also spoke out in 2023 Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” Roy Rosselló alleged that he was abused by José Menendez when he was 14.
The Menendez brothers have seemingly gone from public enemies to victims as a powerful movement builds online to set the brothers free.
Their story is now under a modern lens, casting a new perspective on an alleged trauma that was barely understood at the time — that men could also be victims of sexual abuse. Some people say this reexamination challenges long-held beliefs and prompts people to rethink their understanding of this complex issue.
“I have always thought that if the Menendez brothers were the Menendez sisters, they’d be free today, would have been convicted,” Moran said. “But an abuse victim often gets some kind of clemency.”
Prison reform advocate Kim Kardashian called for their release.
‘We are all products of our experiences,” Kardashian wrote in a personal essay about the brothers. “Time changes us, and I doubt anyone would claim to be the same person they were at 18.”
Actor Rosie O’Donnell has befriended the brothers.
“They were not horrible kids,” O’Donnell told “Impact X Nightline.” “They were severely, sadistically tortured by a pedophile predator father, and a very compliant and also involved mother, who had no interest in them.”
In the ’90s, Dr. William Vicary, a former psychiatrist, was a key witness for the defense in the case after defense attorney Leslie Abramson hired him to evaluate Erik Menendez. Vicary later received probation of his medical license for admitting to altering notes from those meetings.
“In the ’80s and ’90s, the public had very little knowledge about this type of sexual abuse, especially fathers abusing their own sons,” Vicary told “Impact X Nightline.” “Back then, there were many people that just dismissed this outright.”
Others like Alan Abrahamson, who covered the trial for the LA Times, still believe the brothers killed their parents for money and that the jury got it right, given their lavish spending spree in the aftermath of the killings.
“The parents were sitting in the den watching TV,” Abrahamson told “Impact X Nightline.” “Did they have any weapons? No.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced earlier this month that he was reviewing new evidence in the case against the brothers.
Some family members said the Menendez brothers should have been charged with manslaughter instead of murder. A group of relatives, including Kitty Menendez’s sister, agree.
The family members held a news conference in LA on Wednesday, hoping it would influence the appeal of their sentencing. The court has scheduled one hearing for November 2024.
(NEW YORK) — For the first time in days, the Northeast was under no red flag warnings, but officials cautioned that fire danger in the region remains high as drought conditions persist.
All red flag warnings, which signal critical fire weather conditions like strong winds and low relative humidity, were lifted throughout the Northeast Saturday evening as conditions improved following days of wildfires that broke out across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The biggest wildfire in the Northeast remains the Jennings Creek Fire, burning on the border of New York’s Orange County and New Jersey’s Passaic County. The fire, which has burned more than 5,000 acres, prompted hundreds of voluntary evacuations Saturday night when it jumped a containment line near Greenwood Lake and threatened homes in the private beach community of Wah-ta-Wah Park, according to New York State Parks Department spokesperson Jeff Wernick.
The Jennings Creek Fire was 88% contained on the New York side and 90% contained on the New Jersey side, officials said.
The blaze broke out Nov. 9 and burned drought-parched wildland stretching from West Milford in Passaic County, New Jersey, to the Sterling Forest State Park in New York’s Orange County, and on both the New York and New Jersey sides of Greenwood Lake, officials said.
The cause of the Jennings Creek Fire remains under investigation.
A New York State Parks and Recreation employee was killed earlier this month while helping the battle the Jennings Creek Fire, officials said. The deceased parks employee was identified by the New York State Police as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez.
Wind gusts, which have helped fan the fire, are forecast to be lighter on Sunday, peaking at 15 to 25 mph, and relative humidity is expected to be slightly higher, allowing for some relief for firefighters. Temperatures will also top out around 10 to 20 degrees above average on Sunday and Monday, with temperatures rising to the low to mid 60s.
But the prolonged period of dry weather is expected to persist with no measurable rainfall expected in the Northeast until possibly Wednesday or Thursday. While any rain is beneficial, there is an increasing chance for an inch or more of rain from the upcoming storm, with some higher-elevation snow also possible in New England late in the week.
Since Oct. 1, New Jersey firefighters have responded to at least 537 wildfires that have consumed 4,500 acres, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, while officials at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said New York fire crews have battled 60 wildfires since Oct. 1 that have burned 2,100 acres.
At one point last week, the National Weather Service had issued numerous red flag fire danger warnings throughout New Jersey and New York. At least 15 New York counties were under red flag warnings last week, including New York City and all of Long Island.
Multiple wildfires broke out across the Northeast, including some in New York City, where one ignited in the Inwood neighborhood of upper Manhattan and another scorched wooded land in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
Due to the high fire danger, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statewide ban on outdoor fires.
Elsewhere in the country, a developing storm system in the Southern Plains is forecast to bring a severe weather threat to parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Sunday and Monday.
On Sunday afternoon and into the evening, strong to severe storms are likely in cities across Texas, including Wichita Falls, Abilene and Midland. The thunderstorms are also expected to bring damaging wind, large hail and scattered tornadoes.
Severe weather is also forecast for Monday in the Oklahoma City area and Waco, Texas. A flood watch is in effect from northern Texas through Oklahoma until Monday evening, with 2 to 5 inches of rain likely.
(SMITHFIELD, VA)– A Virginia man allegedly had a cache of weapons, a “go box” and used a photo of President Joe Biden for target practice, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors this week.
Brad Spafford was charged earlier in the month on a gun violation, but in a detention memo filed on Monday, prosecutors in Virginia outlined something allegedly more alarming.
When FBI agents raided Spafford’s home, they allegedly found 150 IEDs which were assessed by authorities as pipe bombs, with some marked “lethal,” a “go-bag” in the event something happened, and more pipe bombs in his room “unsecured.”
The court documents point out that Spafford had his two young children living in the house with him.
The government also found a jar with potentially explosive material kept in the fridge labeled “do not touch,” documents said.
Spafford came on the government’s radar in 2023 when a confidential source told investigators that he blew off parts of his hand while allegedly making a homemade IED in 2021, according to court documents.
The detention memo was filed to prevent Spafford from being released pending trial, which was granted, according to court records.
The Justice Department also found that he allegedly supported political assassinations.
“The defendant has used pictures of the President for target practice, expressed support for political assassinations, and recently sought qualifications in sniper-rifle shooting at a local range,” prosecutors wrote. “His release poses an extreme danger to those he lives with, the general community, and also the pretrial officers who will be tasked with periodically inspecting his residence for firearms including dangerous and unstable explosives.”
Spafford is on bond pending trial but DOJ is moving to have him locked up.
