Chief says escape gear, cut from budget, would not have helped

Meanwhile, city police and county arson investigators are looking into a second fire which broke out at 78 Franklin St. just two days after the initial fire. According to Reinhardt, the fire was reported around 6:35 a.m. on Dec. 31. The second blaze, Reinhardt said, engulfed the entire rear portion of the house and left the home in ruins.

Fire Department officials deemed the fire, which began in a different section of the basement than the original blaze, “suspicious” and called in police. Reinhardt dismissed the idea that the second fire was caused by a “rekindle” of the first fire. According to the chief, such situations nearly always occur within 24 hours of the initial fire. Kingston Police Detective Sgt. Brian Robertson, meanwhile, said that police had, so far, uncovered no leads or definitive cause of the second blaze.

“We caught the case, but there is nothing leading to anybody right now,” said Robertson. “There’s nothing leading to a definite arson either.

While the house has been declared a total loss, police say that hasn’t stopped neighborhood vagrants from using it. On New Year’s Day, just one day after the second fire virtually destroyed the house, a local resident called police to report a suspicious person in an adjacent alley. Two days later, on Jan. 3, cops returned to the residence after a report of people inside the condemned home, which had been boarded up and posted with warning signs. This time, cops arrested Joseph G. Staccio, 49, and Hector Garcia, 47, after they were allegedly found inside the house. Both men were charged with violation trespassing.