Photo Courtesy of Councilman Gennaro
“And let me state most emphatically that I will do everything in my power to crack down on illegal daycare centers in my district,” Councilman Gennaro said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
City Fire marshals said that last Wednesday afternoon’s fire at an illegal daycare in Kew Gardens Hills that injured 18 children was caused by a lithium-ion battery.
“A couple minutes after 2 p.m., we got a call for a fire in a basement at 147-07 72 Dr. Companies arrived and found heavy fire in the basement. Firefighters removed some pediatric patients from the building, including one from the fire area in the basement. The fire was under control within 40 minutes and was confined to the basement,” said FDNY Chief of Operations John Esposito.
FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Stacy Scanlon added, “We had a total of 18 patients removed from the building, one was in critical condition and removed to the hospital. The other 17 were stable and refused medical attention on the scene, all pediatrics.”
City Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), who represents the district in which the illegal daycare was located, released a statement on Thursday.
Photo Courtesy of FDNY
Eighteen children were injured in last week’s fire.
“Yesterday, 18 children were injured – including one critically – after a fire broke out in an illegal daycare in my district. A child was critically injured in what was a completely avoidable tragedy – not only because this daycare facility had no business operating in the first place, but also because, yet again, a dangerous e-scooter was to blame. The city rushed to legalize e-bikes and e-scooters in 2020 before my return to the Council without the proper regulations in place. Last year, six New Yorkers died in fires caused by these types of batteries and another 216 fires were connected to them. And just last week, a 63-year-old man was killed, and five others were injured in an East Elmhurst caused by an e-bike. That is completely unacceptable. It is obvious these e-bikes and e-scooters pose a clear and present fire danger. That is why the Council has legislation drafted and under discussion to comprehensively regulate or ban these hazardous vehicles,” Gennaro said.
“And let me state most emphatically that I will do everything in my power to crack down on illegal daycare centers in my district,” he added. “This building had another illegal enterprise in it besides the daycare center. This is completely unacceptable. The law is the law. The safety of our children is too precious to accept the risk posed by unlicensed and uninspected facilities. There is a reason the city has building requirements for daycare facilities, and that is to ensure that they are safe. I call upon anyone who knows of an illegal daycare facility in the 24th Council District to report it to my office and we will take immediate action.
“My prayers are with the victims of this tragedy and their families. I am wishing all the children a speedy recovery, especially the child in critical condition.”
