Officials: Fatal Selden fire spawns more hydrant safety

A year after the death of Amy Yeung in a Selden co-op fire, county and local officials say tens of thousands of Long Islanders are safer because private communities in Suffolk County are coming into compliance with a more rigorous set of requirements for testing their fire hydrants.

Private communities throughout Suffolk now must test the hydrants' water pressure and file public inspection reports because of new laws.

Private communities - which previously were not required to file hydrant inspection reports with any public agency - must provide their first filings to the county by Dec. 31, said Joe Williams, Suffolk County's rescue and emergency services commissioner.

Williams said many have come forward to say they are already in compliance with the new law. Meanwhile, the county will ensure that every private community is aware of the new requirements by contacting all of them in March, Williams said.

He added that those that fail to comply will be fined $250 to $1,000 per day.

"The purpose of this is to have an essential database of every single community in the county of Suffolk," he said. "A lot of them are doing the testing already."

Died a year ago

Yeung died in a Feb. 2, 2009, blaze at Village in the Woods, a Selden co-op community. Firefighters battling the fire struggled with weak water pressure from a hydrant there, raising questions about who was responsible for ensuring adequate pressure in private communities.

Fire officials said water pressure did not drop until after Yeung, who died of smoke inhalation, had been pulled out of the building.

Village in the Woods has already hired a contractor to perform the testing and filed its reports, said Barry Manson, a lawyer for ABM Management, a Great Neck company that manages the complex.

The complex has also installed an updated alarm system in the reconstructed 16-unit building that burned in the fire, he said. And the complex has a new, upgraded water pressure system, Manson said.

"It's safer now," he said.

At least 11 families who lived in the burned structures have moved back, residents said. The fire left at least 15 people temporarily homeless, and some residents said they are just now moving back after a year of shuffling between temporary homes.

Building reconstructed

The complex, which includes about 20 other buildings, received a certificate of occupancy for the reconstructed building in November, Brookhaven Town officials said.

John Prisco, who said he and fiancee Michele Natal moved back around the holidays after renting in Smithtown, is heartened by the new safety measures. But he remains edgy.

"Two months ago, we had a false alarm, and the police were there. I thought it was the same thing as that morning" of the fire, Prisco said.

Natal said the couple found "a tighter community," one where neighbors were brought together by the tragedy.

Brian Hickey, who moved back in December, said the fire has been an ordeal for all of his neighbors. "It's been a tough year," he said.

There are about 90 private communities in Brookhaven, and dozens more throughout the county, housing tens of thousands.

The Brookhaven Town Board approved its law in March. Suffolk County enacted a similar law in September, and Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Wading River) hopes his state legislation, now in committee, is approved by year's end.

Alessi said his law would ensure that private fire hydrants throughout New York are held to the same standard as those in the public infrastructure.

"People were caught by surprise by what little regulation there was there," he said. "We don't want other communities to experience this same type of tragedy."