Fatal fire linked to holiday cleaning ritual
A resident and a firefighter died in the March 23 blaze at an assisted-living facility in Spring Valley.
SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. >> A father and son charged in a deadly fire at a Rockland County assisted-living facility had been performing a pre-Passover cleaning ritual that involves heating kitchen utensils to burn off traces of forbidden food, according to the Journal News.
It remains unclear what specific role Rabbi Nathaniel Sommer of Monsey and his son, Aaron Sommer, allegedly played in the March 23 fire at Evergreen Court Home for Adults in Spring Valley, which killed a resident and a firefighter, the newspaper reported.
The Sommers were arraigned Tuesday on charges of manslaughter, assault and arson in connection with the fire and are due back in court Friday.
Volunteer firefighter Jared Lloyd and a 79-yearold resident of the facility were killed in the fire, which caused a partial collapse of the building.
Records show the Evergreen Court fire was reported about 90 minutes after Nathaniel and Aaron Sommer left the facility after preparing its kitchen for Passover, the Journal News reported.
Observant Jews refrain from eating anything with leavening agents during the eight-day Passover holiday. Preparing kitchens for Passover involves removing any trace of bread or other foods that contain such agents, including subjecting utensils to high heat.
Evergreen officials said after the fire that Nathaniel Sommer had been performing the cleaning ritual at the facility for 15 years.
The Sommers were among six people charged in connection with the fire. Two other men who prosecutors said worked in the town’s Building Department were charged with filing false documents and falsifying business records, while a woman who worked at the facility was facing a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment, and another man faced a misdemeanor criminal impersonation charge.