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The Rockland County Office of Buildings and Codes yesterday inspected two Spring Valley residences owned by the same man who owns the one that was destroyed in an early Saturday morning fire, killing five and injuring several others. The fire at 118 South Lake Street remains under active investigation, but in a statement, Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco said the fire was very likely accidental and related to electrical issues within the structure. The Center for Rockland Codes Investigations says there were five prior complaint cases for the home between 2015 and 2021. Those issues were all resolved by August 2021. At the other two homes, located on the same street, investigators say they found several violations, including electrical issues and missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Five were killed, including two children, in a fire in a multi-family house in Spring Valley early Saturday morning. The fire started at the 118 Lake Street home around 4am, and under control at 4:40. The fire was less than a quarter mile up the road from the former Evergreen Adult Home, where Spring Valley firefighter Jared Lloyd was killed along with a resident. Rockland County Executive Ed Day said though the fires were not connected, that they were so close together, made the memories of that day return…

Officials noted the water pressure was not an issue while fighting the fire on Saturday. Rockland Fire and Emergency Services Coordinator Chris Kear said several survivors had gotten out of the house, one jumped out of a second-story window…

Kear said two bodies were discovered on the first floor, while the other three were found on the second floor of the home, which had partially collapsed. Ed Markunas is the director of the Rockland County Office of Buildings and Codes, and said the home had been hit with code violations in the past…

One of the violations was a lack of smoke detectors but that was corrected two years ago. One firefighter suffered a minor injury. News 12 said the victims were identified as Nastacio Díaz, Maria Yosephina Garcia, Carlos Interiano, and Rudy and Darwin Climaco. The two minor victims were reportedly 14 and 3 years old. Five people survived. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Five were killed, including 2 children, in an early morning multi-family house fire in Spring Valley. The fire started at the 118 Lake Street home around 4a.m., and was declared under control at 4:40. The victims were not identified. A cause of the blaze is under investigation. One firefighter suffered a minor injury. Officials noted the water pressure was not an issue while fighting the fire.  

Local officials held a press conference in New City yesterday to ask the feds for financial help to deal with the influx of migrants to the county. Though Rockland County Executive Ed Day couldn’t put a dollar figure on the problem, he said that the rapid population growth is putting strains on local schools and food pantries…

Congressman Mike Lawler and his family are very familiar with the immigration system, and his assessment is that it’s broken…

Joan Silvestri heads up the Rockland Department of Social Services, and she said immigration policies need to work hand-in-hand with the social services safety net…

Not only are local food pantries running out of food, officials said the East Ramapo School District enrollment has gone up by more than 1,000 students, and there’s been a 35% increase in kids entering foster care. A handful of human rights activists protested outside the press conference at the county office building in New City.

New York’s governor is crowing about the latest data showing the state is improving when it comes to gun violence. Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday there’s been significant progress in the state’s fight against gun violence, with New York City and other communities that are participating in the state’s “Gun Involved Violence Elimination” initiative reporting the fewest shooting incidents with injury this January since the first half of 2020. Hochul said gun violence has lasting impacts on the victims, their families, and the families of the shooters…

Rockland Sheriff Lou Falco says regardless of what Hochul says the numbers show, there are still too many illegal guns coming into the state, and too much damage is being done with them…

Hochul said her budget proposal includes $337 million – that’s a $100 million increase, for what she calls “violence disruption programs,” such as after-school, mental health and other programs.