Resident displaced by fire in Irvington claims city knew about the dangers and did nothing
Jose Huerta says that he previously complained about squatters living in a vacant home that eventually caught fire.
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Residents displaced by a large fire in Irvington last week are still working to recover from the tragedy.
Officials say that the fire last Tuesday broke out in a vacant home on Mongomery Avenue. That fire affected several adjacent homes and displaced 30 residents including children.
Jose Huerta bought his two-family home on Montgomery Avenue in 2019. He is now living elsewhere until he can sort out insurance claims. But he tells News 12 that this fire could have been avoided had the city stepped in.
Huerta showed News 12 text messages between himself and a person he says works for the city of Irvington. In those text messages, Huerta complains about the upkeep of the vacant property, as well as squatters sleeping inside the home. He called the situation a high risk for his own home.
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"I went to the city. I went to make the report, ‘Please try to make something because some people come in the night and smoke and sometimes there’s fire in the home.’ It’s dangerous, it’s high risk for my home and he just only reads the message and never answered. He never says nothing, that’s why now this affects my home. Now I’m living outside of my home,” Huerta says.
The city did confirm that there were multiple complaints about squatters in the vacant home.
Huerta tells News 12 he has new problems. He says thieves have broken in and stolen the pipes in his home. He also says that the electricity hasn’t been restored to part of the block, making his now boarded-up home a target for possible squatters.
