UFD Still Probing Cause Of Deadly Schuyler Street Blaze

Utica, NY (WIBX) - Utica fire investigators continue to examine what caused Monday's deadly blaze at 935 Schuyler Street in West Utica.

A mother and her three young children - an infant, two-year-old and four-year-old - all died in the fire which was reported to the Utica Fire Department at around 9:30 Monday morning, fire chief Russ Brooks said. The names have not yet been released.

The apartment was part of an adjoining duplex, connected to 937 Schuyler Street, where another woman and three children lived, however they were all able to escape, according to Chief Fire Marshall Raymond Beck.

Utica fire officials say the building did have a valid Residential Occupancy Permit from the fire department. It was issued on May 5, 2010 and valid through May 5, 2013. The ROP program is a New York State fire safety inspection program designed to ensure that dwelling do not have fire hazards and is different than a codes inspection, Brooks said.

Records obtained by WIBX show there were two outstanding citations from the city's Codes Department that were not  yet addressed - a broken lock on a kitchen window, and two electrical outlets in one of the bedrooms which did not have plate covers. (Fire officials are still looking for the cause and there is no indication at this point that a lack of electrical outlet plate covers caused or contributed to the fire in any way.)

Brooks told WIBX that if the plate covers were missing during an ROP inspection, the home would not have received a certificate.

Codes inspectors were at the home last this past Friday looking to see is the violations had been addressed, codes commissioner David Farina said. Inspectors were told that the outstanding issues were being addressed, Farina said.

Past citations for missing smoke detectors and excessive use of extension cords had all been corrected, he said.