Rare Instance of Someone Held Criminally Responsible for Conditions That Caused
Line-of-Duty Firefighter Death
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that two men have been
sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to second-degree Manslaughter in the marijuana grow
house explosion that killed FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Fahy. The victim had responded to a
reported gas leak in the building in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx.
District Attorney Clark said, “Battalion Chief Michael Fahy spent the last moments of his
life saving others. He responded to a gas-infused building and instructed the residents—including
one of the defendants—to evacuate. When the gas exploded, it blew off the slate roof and a section
of it struck and killed Chief Fahy, and injured FDNY Lieutenant Richard Ruebenacker.
“This case was an extremely rare instance in which someone is held criminally responsible
for conditions that caused the death of a firefighter in the line of duty in New York City. I hope
the prison sentences will send a message to those who would be callous about the safety of
residents and first responders.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendants, Garivaldi Castillo, 33, of 465 W. 166 Street,
Manhattan, and Julio Salcedo, 36, of unknown address, pleaded guilty to second-degree
Manslaughter and first-degree Criminal Possession of Marijuana on July 13, 2018. As part of the
plea agreement, Castillo was sentenced today by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett to
two to six years in prison for the Manslaughter charge and five years on the Marijuana charge, to
run concurrently. Salcedo was sentenced to one to three years in prison for the Manslaughter
charge and four years for the Marijuana charge, to run concurrently.
According to the investigation, on September 27, 2016, firefighters responded to the two-story
building at 300 West 234 Street in Kingsbridge for a gas leak. They found numerous marijuana plants as well as heaters and fertilizer, allegedly maintained by Castillo and Salcedo.
The windows on the 2nd floor were covered by foil panels, preventing the 2nd floor from being
ventilated of the leaking gas.
District Attorney Clark thanked
NYPD Detectives Paul Sullivan of the 50th Precinct Squad and Peter Cullen of the Special
Investigations Squad, as well as FDNY Fire Marshal John Burns.
