Rockland County firefighters furious over plea deal for father and son who started Evergreen Court blaze
SLOATSBURG, N.Y. -- There is a bitter backlash in Rockland County following a controversial plea deal involving a deadly fire.
Firefighters are taking aim at the district attorney over his prosecution of two men who started the fire.
Firefighters in the village of Sloatsburg have a stark message for Rockland DA Tom Walsh: you should resign and are not welcome in our community.
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The department posted a scathing letter Walsh, which read, in part, "You have betrayed... the Rockland County Fire Service. You robbed us all of any justice that you so vehemently vowed to serve."
"It's about time us as volunteers, we're 100% volunteers in this county, we start sticking up for ourselves," said Frank Voce of the Rockland County Volunteer Fireman's Association.
Anger has been building since a gathering on Tuesday to protest a plea deal for Nathaniel and Aaron Sommer, the father/son rabbis who started the Evergreen Court fire in 2021.
They admitted to recklessly using a torch during a pre-Passover cleansing of the kitchen, which started an undetected fire inside a wall that spread to an inferno.
The pain at losing volunteer Firefighter Jared Lloyd has morphed into anger. The plea deal calls for probation instead of prison.
"It's a disgrace, and it just shows the lack of support for the fire service, emergency services, in general, for Rockland County," said Chris Kear, the county's fire coordinator.
Michael Diederich, an independent who challenged DA Walsh in 2019, said he understands the firefighters' bitter disappointment.
"They are victimized if the DA's office is not going to make clear that they are going to prosecute to the fullest people who commit violations of law that put firefighters and the citizenry in jeopardy," Diederich said.
Walsh's office would only say the DA took no position on punishment, leaving that up to the judge.
"Make sure you vote these people out!" one person said.
As for payback on Election Day in November, Walsh has no opposition. He's running on both the Democratic and Republican lines.
An online petition is also calling for DA Walsh to resign and the Firefighters Association of the State of New York has condemned the plea deal.