Fire-damaged house will be razed soon

The apartment building at 1821 Russell St. in the village has been awaiting demolition for months.

Village officials have been told by the owner of the fire-gutted apartment house at 1820 Russell St. that the building will be taken down before winter.

Mayor Bill Murphy said owner Giuseppe Sireci, of Brooklyn, had been given notice to either tear down the house or the village would do it.

“We got permission from

our lawyer to serve the owner with notice saying he’s got five days to tell us what he’s going to do with it,” Murphy said.

The notice was delivered on Nov. 1, and Sireci was in the village office Monday to get information about the paperwork he will have to complete to demolish the house.

The village has been trying to have the building taken down since it was destroyed by an April 21 fire that killed Tanya Conklin,

46, who lived in one of three apartments. Three other people, including a child and teenager, where critically injured.

“It wasn’t [Sireci] who was holding things up,” Murphy said. “It was all the other legal parties that were holding it up. He would have taken it down long ago.”

Delays were caused by investigations by insurance companies and the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, which investigates fatalities

cause by fire.

“In October, we sent a letter to all interested parties, all the attorneys and insurance companies saying that, in 14 days, if we didn’t hear back from them, we’ll take [that] as [saying there is] no problem,” Murphy said. “In 14 days, we didn’t hear back from anybody.”

The the property has been an eyesore for its Russell Street neighbors, who had been delayed in making repairs to their own properties because of the investigation.