Christmas Fire Destroys 2 Family Home
Thursday December 9, 1999
Two township residents came home to find their apartments in a two family home destroyed by fire apparently caused by faulty electrical wiring from a Nativity Scene near a Christmas Tree. The two residents of 28 Dewey Ave were not home at the time of the fire. One tenant was still at work and the other in NY State.
The fire was called in at 4:48pm on Thursday December 9, 1999 and the local Fire Department headed by Chief Ed Pomponio, arrived at the scene at 5:01pm to find the front and rear second floor in flames.
With the West Paterson Fire Department acting as a back-up for the Little Falls Department, and Totowa and Fairfield Departments standing by in local firehouses, the Little Falls firefighters went to work on the blaze which caused over 50% damage to the structure.
The fire was contained by 5:49pm. Chief Pomponio remarked that because the house was of balloon construction, the fire spread rapidly up the walls making it hard to contain. Some firefighters had to be treated for hear exhaustion but no medical attention was needed at the time. One resident lost a family pet
Man
charged with ramming police car
Thursday
May 18, 2000
A Little Falls police officer was forced to dive for cover when an 18-year-old man rammed his car into the officer's unoccupied cruiser, leaving both men with minor injuries and seriously damaging both cars, a detective said Wednesday.
Police charged Scott Curlo of Ryle Avenue with aggravated assault on a police officer after the 6:14 p.m. incident Tuesday.
Police responded to a Ryle Avenue home Tuesday evening in connection with a domestic dispute, and when they arrived, they found Curlo arguing with his mother and stepfather, said Detective Joe Calafiore.
Curlo's stepfather then told Officers Ed Drwiega and Daniel Gianduso that he wanted to obtain a restraining order against Curlo, and departed with Gianduso to begin the paperwork at police headquarters, Calafiore said.
Curlo left the house in his 1987 Toyota Tercel, and Drwiega stayed behind. A short time later, as Drwiega walked to his patrol car, preparing to leave, the officer "heard a loud engine roaring, and saw a car coming west down Ryle Avenue at about 40 to 50 mph, aiming for the police car," Calafiore said.
Drwiega dived out of the way as Curlo's Tercel plowed into the front of the patrol car, knocking it about 12 feet. Drwiega sustained a minor back injury but did not require treatment; Curlo suffered minor injuries to his chest and leg, as well as cuts and bruises, the detective said.
Both cars sustained major damage and were not driveable. The cost of repairs to the patrol car had not been estimated as of Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Curlo was transported to St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic for psychiatric evaluation. Police charged Curlo with criminal mischief, in addition to aggravated assault, for allegedly causing damage to the patrol car. His bail was set at $7,000, Calafiore said.
A powerful storm swept through Bergen and Passaic counties Friday night, knocking down trees -- and power lines.
The storm darkened the sky about 7 p.m., hitting hard in Fairfield, Wayne, Totowa, and Little Falls. No major damage or injuries were reported.
"It was a very narrow squall line that moved through," said Bob Ziff, a spokesman for the North Jersey Weather Observers. "It was in reaction to all the heating of the day -- the cold front pushing into the unstable air we had over the area."
Winds whipped at about 50 mph and the storm quickly crossed the region.
Many towns were without power as the storm knocked down trees, damaging power lines in the process. Many homes and vehicles were damaged as trees fell to the ground.
Gusts of 50 mph were recorded in Wayne and went as high as 60 mph in Chatham, Ziff said. Rain, however, was slight.
A group of homeowners has filed a lawsuit against New Jersey Transit, saying its failure to maintain a drainage culvert is the reason they suffered millions of dollars in property damage during Tropical Storm Floyd.
The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court in Paterson by the Inwood Owners Inc., which is made up of owners from the Inwood at Great Notch complex, a 300-unit cooperative housing development. The complex is near the Great Notch NJ Transit train station.
The lawsuit alleges that NJ Transit's failure to clean and maintain the culvert beneath railroad tracks adjacent to some Inwood homes allowed the storm's rainwater to flow toward their property and cause flooding. The homeowners have said the resulting floods destroyed the complex's pump station and caused sewer and rainwater to seep into their town houses.
The lawsuit states that September's flooding wasn't the first time that the complex has been inundated. In October 1996, the lawsuit states, the culvert collapsed, resulting in significant water damage to nine units at the complex. That incident led the co-op's board to conduct an engineering study.
According to the lawsuit, the study found that emergency repairs done at the time on the culvert were "inadequate and incapable of handling appropriate water flow." Although the co-op owners notified NJ Transit about the study and the need to repair or replace the drainage culvert, their letters went unanswered, according to the lawsuit.
"New Jersey Transit failed not only to take action to replace the culvert, but also to maintain the culvert in satisfactory working condition," the suit states.
During Tropical Storm Floyd, the water severely damaged or destroyed 35 vehicles and 43 units in six buildings. Some homes were uninhabitable for several weeks and, at the time, damage at the complex was estimated at $2 million.
"The damage sustained was a direct and proximate result of the failure of the drainage culvert, which was observed to be backed up and flooded," states the lawsuit. "Had defendant . . . completed timely repairs to the culvert, following the October 1996 failure, the storm damage, if any, would have been minimal."
Michael Klufas, NJ Transit spokesman, declined to comment, saying the company had not been served with the lawsuit. But in the past, NJ Transit officials have said that three days prior to Tropical Storm Floyd's arrival, the agency sent crews out to make sure all drainage systems were in working order.
The lawsuit also names the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission and the County of Passaic as defendants, saying both agencies should have been aware that the drainage culvert was "improperly designed and prone to failure."
Passaic County Counsel William Pascrell III also declined to comment, saying he had not been served with the lawsuit. Gabriel Ambrosio, an attorney who represents the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, said he had not seen the lawsuit, but said that the commission does not own or operate any sewer systems in Little Falls.
The homeowners are seeking unspecified compensatory and consequential damages.
A Hawthorne woman whose car was buried in thick foliage after plunging down a 50-foot embankment was rescued Tuesday after she used a cell phone to call for help.
Police initially couldn't find Cynthia Marrs, 56, because the car had been swallowed by the foliage, so they used their sirens like beacons so the victim could tell them when they were close.
"Officers at the scene attributed her lifesaving to her wearing a seat belt and she was fortunate to have a cell phone," said police Sgt. Gerald Hunter.
Marrs suffered broken bones and was in stable condition at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Paterson, a spokeswoman said.
The accident occurred at 5 p.m. at the intersection of Route 46 west and Lower Notch Road.
Marrs, driving a Plymouth Reliant, apparently was having brake problems with the car and wanted to get off the highway, said Hunter.
"We believe she tried to negotiate a turn onto Lower Notch Road. She never made it," said Hunter.
Instead, the car struck a curb, flew over a three-foot guardrail, and plunged 50 feet down a 90-degree embankment.
"We couldn't find the car at first," said Hunter.
Officers Dan Gianduso and Edward Drwiega went by numerous exits trying to find the car, said Hunter.
Dispatcher Ed Kania kept the woman on the phone throughout the ordeal, and finally she was able to tell Kania that she heard the police sirens.
Gianduso and Drwiega used ropes to descend into the foliage to rescue the dazed woman. Eagle Rescue Squad members used a special basket to retrieve the victim.
The demolished car was stopped from going into a small creek by the creek wall, said Hunter.
The Lower Notch Road ramp was shut for two hours while rescue workers tended to the woman and a tow truck pulled the vehicle out of the foliage.
Totowa police assisted Little Falls at the scene.
Five dead crows found in Clifton are the first birds in Passaic County to test positive for the West Nile encephalitis virus, health officials said Monday.
In addition, the number of infected dead crows found in Bergen County has nearly tripled since last week, said Marilyn Riley, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Health.
Of 450 dead crows from all 21 counties in New Jersey tested by the state for West Nile to date, 53 were found to be infected with the mosquito-borne virus. This includes 29 crows in Bergen County, up from 10 crows last week, Riley said. There were also 12 infected birds in Middlesex County, two each in Union, Hudson, and Monmouth counties, and one in Essex County.
"We are surrounded by communities finding infected birds, so we are not totally surprised by this latest development," Passaic County Freeholder Peter Eagler, a Clifton resident, said in a statement Monday.
"Passaic County has already implemented a proactive mosquito control plan, and we are stepping up target applications in the area to minimize the presence of mosquitoes," Eagler said.
New Jersey updated its weekly infected crow numbers on its Web site -- www.state.nj.us/health -- earlier than usual this week, "because the number of crows jumped so much" since last week, Riley said. Last week, 15 of 356 crows in New Jersey had tested positive for West Nile.
Also, 543 blood samples from sentinel chickens stationed in all 21 counties, and 465 pools with breeding mosquitoes throughout the state, tested negative for West Nile.
Meanwhile, test results from the first six suspected West Nile cases in people in New Jersey are expected later this week from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Riley said. New Jersey has "pre-screened" about 30 other suspected cases of West Nile in people, but their symptoms did not qualify for further testing.
There have been no confirmed cases of West Nile virus in humans in New Jersey this year, nor any last year when the virus from Africa and the Middle East first appeared in North America.
Last week, an unidentified 78-year-old Staten Island man became the first human case of West Nile reported in the United States, and infected dead birds have been reported in several Eastern states. Last summer, West Nile killed seven people in New York and sickened 62 others.
West Nile is spread to people by the bite of mosquitoes that feed on infected birds. The virus usually causes flu-like symptoms in some people, but can result in fatal brain inflammation and swelling in the elderly, young children, and people with weakened immune systems.
Infected dead crows newly reported in Bergen County include two in Paramus, two in Teaneck, and three in Dumont, according to Thom Ammirato, spokesman for County Executive William "Pat" Schuber.
There was also one infected crow each found in Alpine, Bergenfield, Elmwood Park, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Hackensack, Maywood, Oradell, Saddle Brook, Tenafly, Washington Township, and Westwood, Ammirato said. Infected crows were previously found in Westwood, River Edge, Park Ridge, and Montvale.
In Clifton, the five infected crows were found two blocks from the Passaic River in the area of Gordon Street and Roosevelt and Washington avenues, said Alan Juszcyk, Passaic County Mosquito Control Superintendent.
The county is monitoring the area for mosquito larva and applying larvicide where needed, Juszcyk said. No adult mosquitoes have been found in the area, he said.
Police
director option considered
Wednesday
August 9, 2000
The Township Committee is considering a resolution that would give it the option to hire a civilian director to head the Police Department once the current chief retires.
"Right now, according to our ordinances we don't have that choice," said Committeewoman Janice Sandri, who is police commissioner. "The opportunity to have a police director may bring in a new perspective on both streamlining the Police Department as well as improving its capabilities."
Township Administrator William Wilk said there are no immediate plans to hire a police director, inasmuch as the township already has a police chief. He added that Chief Edward Oswald, who was appointed to the post last year, has not indicated that he plans to retire in the near future. Oswald, a 36-year police veteran, earns a salary of $78,212 as chief.
"This just gives them the option," said Wilk. "It doesn't mean they have to do that, but if they want to have a director in the future they can."
Committeeman Rick Ricciardelli said that if officials choose to go with a police director when Oswald retires, it could be cost-effective, since police directors' salaries tend to be between $30,000 to $40,000 less than those of a police chief.
Both positions call for administrative oversight of the department, but unlike the chief, the police director wouldn't be able to patrol the streets or carry a gun.
"There is quite a bit of cost savings between a police chief and police director," said Ricciardelli. "You might be able to hire an additional police officer or two with a police director and still be ahead."
This won't be the first time the Township Committee has amended its ordinances regarding the Police Department's top post. In 1987, saying more experienced police leadership needed to be developed, officials created the police director's position and abolished the rank of police chief.
At the time, committee members said the action was necessary because the top three ranks in the department were vacant and that some time was needed to test and select candidates. The committee then chose the township administrator, who was a former deputy police chief in Paterson, to be director.
That decision was greeted with criticism by police officers and chiefs from neighboring communities, who argued that the action could damage morale in the department.
In 1988, the Township Committee reinstated the chief's post and appointed Nelson Romaine to run the department. Romaine retired from the post in March 1999.
Detective Joseph Calafiore, former president of Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 173, which represents Little Falls officers, said he is not in favor of having a director lead the 21-member Police Department in the future.
"I always want a police chief," said Calafiore. "They tried it in the past and it didn't work. You always need someone who is strictly in charge of the Police Department."
But Sandri said there are no plans to have Wilk become the police director. She and Ricciardelli said that if the Township Committee hires a police director, it will be someone who has worked in law enforcement in the past.
Little
Falls to put firefighter savings plan to vote
Wednesday
August 9, 2000
It took nearly a year to agree on the details, but Township Committee members unanimously adopted an ordinance Monday night that will allow the township, with voter approval, to offer a retirement savings plan for volunteer firefighters.
"It was long overdue," Fire Chief Edmund Pomponio, a 39-year volunteer, said at a public hearing on the ordinance. "We wish we could have gotten it through last year, but everything wasn't worked out in time to put it in a referendum."
The length-of-service program, LOSAP for short, allows municipalities to set aside $100 to $1,150 a year per active volunteer in a tax-deferred fund. That money will earn interest until volunteers withdraw their savings after retirement.
The Little Falls ordinance will allow the Township Committee to place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters whether they would be willing to pay $115,000 annually for the annuity.
Qualifications for the retirement package would depend on a point system. Points can be acquired through requirements and activities such as drills, meetings, parades, and training courses.
Under the township's proposed LOSAP agreement, volunteer firefighters could earn get the maximum benefit by earning up to 60 points annually through attending meetings and drills, as well as by responding to emergency calls.
Volunteers also could reach the maximum points by answering 120 calls a year. The Fire Department, which has 88 volunteers, answers about 500 calls a year, according to Pomponio.
Last year, the Township Committee rescinded a similar ordinance after firefighters objected to the committee's decision not to offer the maximum benefit of $1,150 per volunteer in the first year. Instead, the committee's ordinance stated that the municipality would have contributed a maximum of $383 per volunteer the first year and $767 the second year. By the third year, volunteers would have been able to receive the maximum.
The previous ordinance also would have required firefighters to answer 160 calls to get the maximum benefit.
But the new ordinance allows the township to allot $1,150 the first year for volunteers reaching the maximum points. It also allows the township to make smaller contributions on a sliding scale for volunteers who don't reach the maximum number of points.
"It's a good program," said Mayor Eugene Kulick, also the township's fire commissioner. "It's like a Cadillac of all the LOSAP programs. . . . It's better for them than it was before."
The program is made possible under a 1998 state law allowing municipalities to offer volunteer firefighters and first-aid and rescue-squad members retirement annuities as a recruitment and retention tool.
"Hopefully we will get the support of the townspeople," Pomponio said. "In a time and age when it's hard to get volunteers, we must try and keep what we have. Any incentive that will give them some sort of benefit is good."
Last year, voters in 19 municipalities in Bergen County and four in Passaic County -- Ringwood, Wayne, West Milford, and West Paterson -- approved similar policies.
A mother and her children were injured in a morning fire that forced about 15 people to jump or crawl from their windows at a Route 23 apartment building.
Another child suffered a minor injury during an awkward 10-foot descent from a window. Eight families were temporarily displaced.
The fire began on a rear ground-level apartment at the three-story brick building at 86 Route 23, on the east side of the highway. It was reported to authorities at 9:46 a.m. and was under control about 20 minutes later, said Fire Chief Edmund Pomponio.
The blaze, which appears to have begun in a television-stereo entertainment unit, probably got a head start because the smoke detector in that apartment was disconnected, Pomponio said. The fire sent thick black smoke throughout the building's hallways.
Outside the 10-unit complex, tenants discussed how neighbors worked with police and firefighters during the desperate escapes.
Walter McMahon, who lives directly above the apartment where the fire began, said he rushed to his door to escape but could not make it to the stairs. "It was pitch black," he said. "You couldn't see one foot in front of you."
McMahon, a letter carrier, went to a rear window and saw an awning a few feet away -- but still too far to reach alone. "Twenty years ago I would have done it," said McMahon, 57, but Friday he needed help.
Luckily, Sergio Bedoya, 32, had climbed to the awning from another second-floor unit. "He's heavy," Bedoya said of McMahon, "but I just grabbed him and pulled." Bedoya, who works for Nextel, then jumped down about 10 feet, and summoned firefighters to bring over a ladder for McMahon.
In the front, Alan Adonay, 11, jumped from a second-story window to emergency personnel below. "I was just sitting in the window, and people kept telling me, 'Jump!' " Alan said. "I landed on a bush. It hurt a little at first." He was treated at the scene for a minor back injury.
Four relatives followed him out, including his grandfather, Leopoldo Escuadro, 71, who was visiting from the Philippines.
Also injured were Kimberly Dorman, 20, and her children Desiree and Colin O'Keeffe, who live in the apartment where the fire began. The three suffered from smoke inhalation and were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, where the children were expected to be monitored overnight. They were in stable condition, a hospital spokesman said, adding that the mother was expected to be released.
Several residents were not home during the fire, and two of the units were unoccupied, officials said.
Pomponio said the injured children's father, Colin O'Keeffe, told authorities after the fire that he had disconnected the alarm earlier. The chief said that in the chaos Wednesday, only limited information was available, and that he plans to interview O'Keeffe later for more information.
The chief said state inspectors were called to examine the building for possible violations. He identified the owner as A. Garcanian of East Hanover, and said he told her that tenants were not permitted to move back in because the alarm system was damaged in the fire. He said he hoped it would be back in order by today.
The American Red Cross sent workers to the site, but as of mid-afternoon, they were not called on to move anyone to a temporary shelter, a spokeswoman said.
The fire caused considerable traffic delays on Route 23. Part of the road was shut as firetrucks from Little Falls and West Paterson filled the street. Cedar Grove, Totowa, and Fairfield were on standby, Pomponio said
A truck carrying a load of stone and dirt hit a telephone pole Friday, causing the vehicle to overturn and trap the slightly injured driver inside for hours before he could be freed.
Leo Brochu, 52, of Belleville suffered cuts and bruises and was taken for treatment to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson. Police said it took more than two hours to extricate Brochu, whose truck had been surrounded by electrical wires.
Police said Brochu, a Newark firefighter who works part time for Mark Veniero Trucking of Belleville, had picked up the stones and dirt from the Rolling Views construction site off Overmount Avenue in the morning.
Descending Overmount Avenue, which comes down the side of Garret Mountain, Brochu lost control of the truck after almost hitting a car halted at a stop sign at the corner of Mount Pleasant Avenue, police said.
"According to witnesses, he swerved to avoid hitting the car and made a left turn [on Mount Pleasant Avenue] and the truck went on its side and hit the telephone pole," said Patrolman Dan Russo, who was at the scene.
Russo said the pole, located by the entrance of a park, broke in half and some of its electrical wires draped over the truck. Police could not free Brochu until Public Service Electric and Gas crews removed all the wires from the pole, officials said.
An 82-year-old Little Falls man was identified Wednesday as the first resident of New Jersey -- and the first person in the United States this year -- to die from West Nile virus.
The death, which occurred despite months of stepped-up mosquito control, sparked a cry for continued vigilance against the virus. It also ignited criticism from some politicians who believe that Passaic County could have done more to eradicate the disease.
The man, Anthony Opalka, felt weak and dehydrated Sept. 3 and was admitted three days later to The Mountainside Hospital in Montclair. He became increasingly lethargic and confused before he died Sept. 14, officials said.
Opalka was a retired welder for Stepan Chemical Co. of Maywood, where he worked for 35 years. He had served in the Polish army during World War II, and was a member of St. John Kanty Roman Catholic Church in Clifton, according to an obituary.
Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, New Jersey state epidemiologist, said the man had died in part from preexisting, chronic conditions" connected with his age, but that West Nile virus contributed in large part to his death.
His family, however, said Wednesday that Opalka had been in good health before he contracted West Nile.
"He would have outlived everybody. He was in good health," said Rosemarie Opalka, his daughter-in-law, who is married to his son, Michael. Opalka lived with the couple and their two children.
The senior Opalka, Rosemarie Opalka said, came home complaining of fever, chills, and stomach virus symptoms one morning after walking their dog in the woods behind Van Ness Avenue. He was taken to the hospital and slipped into a coma Sept. 9, she said. Doctors couldn't figure out what was making him ill, Rosemarie Opalka said. They told the family they were going to run tests.
The family is upset because they learned of the reported cause of Opalka's death on the radio Wednesday after Governor Whitman held a news conference to talk about the issue.
"She [Whitman] has no compassion for the family," Rosemarie Opalka said. "We should have been contacted first, instead of hearing it on the news."
Opalka was the third positive case of West Nile virus in New Jersey this year. On Wednesday, officials said a 72-year-old Bayonne woman was the fourth person in New Jersey to be treated for West Nile virus. The unidentified woman was admitted to Bayonne Hospital on Sept. 1 and discharged Sept. 6. She is recovering at home, officials said.
Both Opalka and the Bayonne woman were probably bitten by infected mosquitoes in mid- to late August, officials said. West Nile was identified in blood and spinal fluid samples from the two by the state Health Department's laboratory in mid-September, and confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.
Of 38 suspected cases of West Nile encephalitis in New Jersey this year, four were confirmed infected with the virus, 16 tested negative, and test results are pending on 18 others.
A 43-year-old Jersey City man who is recovering at home -- and a 54-year-old man who lives in Cliffside Park and in Brooklyn and was hospitalized in New York -- are the other two confirmed cases of West Nile virus in New Jersey.
At her news conference at Bergen County Vocational Technical School in Hackensack, Whitman urged residents to "use common sense" and continue taking preventive measures against the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, including using bug spray, wearing long sleeves and pants at dawn and dusk, and "perhaps not [taking] that picnic by the river."
Federal health officials recently toured Bergen County mosquito control facilities in Paramus, "and they told us we're doing the right things to reduce the risk of transmission" of the West Nile virus, she said.
"This is a disease that will be with us for some time," Whitman said. "People shouldn't panic," she added, however.
West Nile, which is spread to humans by the bite of mosquitoes that feed on infected birds, normally causes flu-like symptoms. But the virus can be fatal in the elderly, infants, and people with weakened immune systems.
West Nile killed seven people in New York and sickened 62 others when it first appeared in North America from Africa and the Middle East last year. There were no human cases of West Nile in New Jersey in 1999. There have been 13 cases of West Nile virus in people in New York this year, but no deaths.
The risk of West Nile is decreasing as autumn temperatures become lower, said Bob Kent of the Mosquito Control Commission of the state Department of Environmental Protection. But the first frost, when mosquitoes begin to hibernate, does not guarantee against further West Nile activity, Kent said.
"The bug can come back with a warm snap," he said. "Until a long pattern of cold weather, the public will have to remain vigilant."
As news of Opalka's death spread Wednesday, some Passaic County politicians blamed the tragedy on insufficient mosquito control.
"I'm sick to hear this news," Passaic Freeholder Scott Rumana said. "This is the worst thing that could ever have happened,"
"We pled for the board to hire more [mosquito control] people, but it fell on deaf ears. They refused to do it," Rumana, a Republican, said of the Passaic Board of Freeholders, which has a Democratic majority.
Bill Campbell, a county spokesman, said the board believes that mosquito control efforts were sufficient. "You really can't say for sure that by adding a person -- or 100 people -- you could prevent an incident like that," he said.
"Passaic County has been following state protocol, and working hand in hand with the state and the CDC in its ongoing monitoring and eradicating of mosquitoes since spring," he said.
The county has 10 full-time mosquito control workers and eight part-time workers to clear catch basins and potential mosquito breeding sites, Campbell said. Bergen County has 26 full-time workers.
Little Falls officials said that throughout the summer, the county sent representatives to check for signs of mosquitoes at various parks and recreational facilities. Some areas were sprayed, including the township's recycling yard and property by the Passaic Valley Regional High School.
"Every call that came in here . . . about birds, we contacted the county," said Township Health Officer Michael Festa.
Worried that residents would panic, Little Falls officials met Wednesday to discuss how to answer questions about Opalka's death. "Our concern now is misinformation," Township Administrator William Wilk said.
Meanwhile, Opalka was remembered by his neighbors as a "familiar face" who could be seen most days walking his dog, Bingo, from Paterson Avenue to the Morris Canal Pedestrian Way and Preserve. Opalka, who had lived in Little Falls for more than 40 years, was a man who would always try to help his neighbors, someone who would watch their homes when they were away.
"The kids all knew him, because they always ran up to Bingo," recalled Cindy Lazarski of Jackson Avenue. "His death was a deep loss."
Lazarski said she found out that Opalka, a native of Poland who attended Mass every Sunday in Clifton, had been sick after she didn't see him walking his dog several weeks ago.
"At first they thought it was his heart," she said.
The news that he had had West Nile made them nervous.
"We've been spraying our kids [with insect repellent]," said Kristina Szymanski of Jackson Avenue.
"We've also been hauling our kids inside before it gets dark," added Lazarski
After hearing politicians complain over a supposed lack of mosquito control efforts in Passaic County, the son of the first New Jersey resident to die from West Nile virus said he was more concerned with preventing additional outbreaks than in pinning blame for his father's death.
"It's a hard thing to come down on anybody," said Michael Opalka, whose father, Anthony, 82, died Sept. 14 -- four days after first developing the flu-like symptoms linked to West Nile.
"Hopefully we'll all try to eradicate some of the standing puddles of water [in which mosquitoes breed]" he said. "And maybe if there were a little more funding, some people would be saved in the future."
Opalka spoke after attending a meeting at Little Falls town hall with about 30 other Passaic County residents concerned about West Nile.
His neutral stance contrasted with continued finger-pointing among politicians such as state Sen. Norman Robertson, R-Clifton, who criticized the Democrat-dominated Freeholder Board for not giving mosquito control officials the tools to have a strong, year-round program" aimed at preventing West Nile.
As New Jersey's first year of a full-fledged battle against the virus wraps up with the approach of mosquito-killing colder weather, state health officials said they are taking a sharp look at some of the tactical missteps that were made along the way.
For example, a highly touted sentinel program that used chickens to determine where the disease was spreading, will likely be scrapped or significantly altered after it failed to provide a clear picture of West Nile's movements, said Kenneth Bruder, administrator of the state Office of Mosquito Control Coordination.
Also to be reevaluated is how information gleaned by state officials is disseminated to municipalities and the public.
Local agencies currently have no way to know the exact location of suspected victims of West Nile, which prevents communities from focusing control measures in those areas. When Opalka's father was first tested for the virus, he was listed in state mosquito surveillance reports as a resident of Essex County.
Another information breakdown occurred when Anthony Opalka's death was announced Thursday by Governor Whitman.
Alan Juszcyk, Passaic County's mosquito control superintendent, said he first learned the Opalkas' address through the media -- not through the state officials who had tracked the case. Similarly, the victim's family did not learn that Opalka had tested positive for West Nile until reporters showed up for a reaction.
Meanwhile, state officials had warned the county in July that its mosquito control measures needed strengthening, according to a letter sent from Aaron Rappaport, chairman of the state Mosquito Control Commission, to Passaic Board of Chosen Freeholder Director Georgia Scott.
The letter said Passic lacked several key components of a successful program, including not enough emphasis on adult and larval mosquito surveillance, a failure to introduce mosquito-eating fish into bodies of water that serve as breeding grounds, and an over-reliance on the public to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds.
County officials said that while more resources would be helpful, they still have much to learn about the virus, which first showed up in the United States last year and killed seven people in New York.
"I'm caught in the middle as a scientist trying to do his job in a scientific manner," said Juszcyk, an entomologist who has been involved in mosquito control in Passaic County for more than 30 years. "It's all relatively new. All the fine details are going to be tweaked in the coming years."
The township received final approval Thursday from the Passaic County Planning Board to build a $1.6 million municipal building on Main St.
"I'm obviously extremely happy," said Committeeman Terry Ryan after the site plan hearing in Paterson. "We have been trying to get this project started for a long time."
But residents who have opposed the plan because of concerns over traffic and drainage problems said they may still try to block it.
"It was a great disappointment," said David Garfinkle, a Democratic candidate in the November election who has been against the project for years. "The fight isn't over. We are considering other legal options and if necessary we may proceed in court."
The county Planning Board held three hearings on the plan, which calls for a 13,467-square-foot brick building at the intersection of Montclair Avenue and Main Street, which are county roads.
In August, county officials decided against voting on the matter until the township submitted revised drawings on the drainage and a new traffic study, which had to be conducted when schools were open and when the roads were used by more motorists.
Township Attorney James Segreto said the second traffic study, like the first, showed that the building would have a negligible impact on traffic in the area. The township plans to house nine full-time and four part-time employees in the new building.
"The traffic report reflected that we had less than 1 percent of the amount of traffic that would be generated in peak hours," he said.
But Garfinkle and other residents said the traffic study lacked information.
"There were many deficiencies and no consideration in the traffic study about anything relating to safety," Garfinkle said.
The new building will house all municipal offices, except the Police Department and Municipal Court, which will remain on Stevens Avenue. It will also contain a new meeting room. Currently, the township conducts all of its business in two antiquated buildings on Stevens Avenue.
"It's quite a contrast to the facility we have now," said Segreto, who added that the township will seek bids next month.
As shown in the architectural designs, each floor of the building will have two wings. There will be an elevator, and each floor will have bathrooms. The building will have four offices near a large open rotunda on the first floor. The rotunda will have high ceilings extending to the second floor.
The township will pay for the new building with a $950,000 bond. The remaining cost and related renovations will be paid with $638,000 the township received for a 1.7-acre parcel at Montclair Avenue and Main Street that it sold to the U.S. Postal Service for construction of a post office.
Plans also call for the Stevens Avenue building to be renovated, and the township also will convert the old post office building on Warren Street into a civic center, where senior citizen groups and the historical society will meet. Some renovations to that building have already started.
Officials also plan to raze the Municipal Annex, a wooden two-story home that currently houses the township administrator's office and welfare office. It is to be replaced by a parking lot.
A child playing with a barbecue lighter started a couch fire that spread through a Paterson Avenue house Monday night, displacing the boy's family, the borough fire chief said.
The boy's mother, Danielle Lough, 31, apparently tried to put out the fire herself before calling authorities. Fire Chief Edmund Pomponio said that allowed the blaze to spread.
"That's why we say call first and then try to put it out," Pomponio said. "Don't try to fight it all by yourself."
The fire was across the street from the firehouse and began sometime after 8 p.m. when the 7-year-old boy put the lighter under a couch in the family's living room.
Pomponio said by the time firefighters were notified and looked out the firehouse window at 8:37 p.m., flames were coming out of the second floor of the duplex apartment.
Firefighters took about 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control. The first floor of the Loughs' apartment was gutted, and firefighter John Mercato was overcome by smoke inhalation. He was treated at the scene.
A family living next door was temporarily evacuated but allowed to return Monday night.
An Elmwood Park man was injured Wednesday when his car flipped twice after being clipped by the rear wheels of a tractor-trailer on Route 46, police said.
The 1991 Oldsmobile driven by Juan Araujo, 57, landed on top of two cars for sale at the McGuire Auto Group dealership.
Police Sgt. Gerald Hunter and Patrolman Dan Gianduso arrived to find Araujo still in his upright car. He was strapped in by his seat belt. "Fortunately," Hunter said, "we attribute the fact that there weren't serious injuries to the seat belt he had on."
Araujo complained of head, neck, and back injuries and was treated at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, police said.
George Hilliker, 54, of Maryland, driving the tractor-trailer for Schneider National Carriers of Ottawa, Ill., was issued a summons for an unsafe lane change.
The accident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. on Route 46 east. The tractor-trailer, in the center lane, was switching to the slow lane when its rear wheels struck Araujo's car.
Customers were in the dealership's parking lot, but no one was injured.
Araujo's car was totaled. The cars for sale, a 1996 Buick and a 1997 Chevrolet, sustained heavy front end damage, police said.
Police
Officer Hurt At Restaurant Fire
Sunday
January 21, 2001
A police officer was injured in an early morning fire Saturday that damaged a restaurant on Main Street, a fire official said.
The blaze at the Sunset Restaurant, which was reported to fire officials at 3:38 a.m., forced the evacuation of two apartments above the restaurant, Fire Chief Edmund Pomponio said.
The fire broke out in the restaurant's supply closet on the building's first floor. The cause was under investigation, Pomponio said.
Firefighters put out the fire by 4:10 a.m., he said.
Patrolman Sal Calafiore suffered smoke inhalation while responding to the fire, Pomponio said. Calafiore was treated at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair and released, police said.
The three occupants living above the restaurant were able to return, but the restaurant had fire damage and will likely remain closed until repairs are completed, Pomponio said.
An overcooked dinner turned into a raging fire that destroyed a one-bedroom apartment early Friday, leaving a mother and her son homeless.
Elizabeth Ellis and her 12-year-old son, Dexter, were asleep in their home at 200 East Main Street around 1 a.m.
Ellis had put a frozen dinner in the microwave, then sat down and fell asleep within minutes, Detective Joseph Calafiore said.
The package, Ellis told police, instructed her to cook the dinner for six minutes.
"Maybe she put it on for 60 minutes. We don't know," Calafiore said.
When Ellis woke up, her kitchen was full of smoke and fire. She woke Dexter and they ran out of the house, barefoot and wearing only pajamas.
Ellis flagged down a police car that was patrolling the neighborhood. Officer Steve Post ushered the mother and son into his car for warmth.
Firefighters put out the blaze within 15 minutes, Calafiore said. He said the smoke detectors in the building were working.
The Ellis' second-floor apartment is over a medical practice run by Dr. Albert Ades, a general practitioner. Ellis began renting the apartment from Ades last summer.
Chiropractor Edwin Catalano, who also practiced at the East Main Street office, said the business was severely damaged by water, but that they were able to save a file cabinet holding patients' medical records.
"Ninety-nine percent of our charts are in there," Catalano said. "The firefighters helped us save a tremendous amount of stuff."
Janet Cooper, a receptionist for the medical practice, said that while wandering through the rubble, she found a picture of Dexter that seemed to be the only item not burned.
"The family lost everything they have," Calafiore said. "Some of the firemen gathered clothes for the family."
Friday, Ellis and her son were staying at a Holiday Inn hotel on Route 46 in Totowa. The American Red Cross of Metropolitan New Jersey was helping them buy clothes and food and find a place to stay.
At Public School 1, where Dexter is a seventh-grader, students were concerned about the family. Some were brought to tears.
Principal Raymond Mead said a letter was sent to parents Friday asking for donations of money and clothing.
"We're going to get so much stuff," Mead said Friday morning. "We're not even 10 hours after the fire and the community is mobilizing already."