Judge Dismisses Riverhead From Lawsuit Over Fatal 2021 Second Street Fire

State Supreme Court Justice Alison Napolitano dismissed the Town of Riverhead from one of two civil lawsuits stemming from the November 16, 2021 fire at 46 East Second Street that killed five people, ruling March 13 that the town could not be held responsible under the law on the claims brought by the victims' estates.

The lawsuit was filed by Jason Hernandez, administrator of the estate of Rivera, and Matthew Kiernan, public administrator of the estate of Ramos. Napolitano's summary judgment ruling means the town will not face trial in that case. Claims against the property owner, Carmela Cannella, were not dismissed and remain active.

Napolitano also denied the plaintiffs' request to amend their notices of claim to add a cause of action for conscious pain and suffering.

Summary judgment allows a judge to resolve a case without a trial when no key facts are in dispute requiring a jury determination. In issuing the ruling, Napolitano found the legal standard for municipal liability was not met on the claims as pleaded.

A second lawsuit tied to the same fire, filed by Ruben A. Gonzalez Godoy, the father of victim Andrea González, is still pending. Napolitano had previously ordered the two cases joined for trial, though they remained separate for other procedural purposes, including separate motion records. The town filed a similar summary judgment motion in the Gonzalez case, but as of this week that motion had not yet been decided.

The East Second Street fire remains one of the deadliest residential fires in recent Riverhead history. With Cannella still named as a defendant in the estate case and the Gonzalez lawsuit unresolved, litigation over accountability for the five deaths is far from concluded.