an 'explosive' comeback

My apologies for the long absence, but I've been vacationing a bit and taking it easy. After all, tis' summer.

Anyway, I had the pleasure today of covering a truly interesting and tragic story: a 66-year-old successful doctor who was critically injured during the gas-induced explosion of his four-story Upper East Side townhouse in an apparent attempt to keep his ex-wife away from the building to be sold and split in a bitter divorce.

Here are two stories I wrote in the New York Metro and some shots I got from the scene. Enjoy and thanks for reading.


EXPLOSION ROCKS E. 62ND ST. BLOCK
by Joshua Rhett Miller

UPPER EAST SIDE — A deafening gas explosion flattened a four-story brownstone early yesterday and buried a doctor beneath 25 feet of burning debris, leaving him to call rescuers from his cell phone.
The doctor, Nicholas Bartha, was the sole occupant of 34 E. 62nd St. when the blast occurred at 8:40 a.m., according to Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, who added that authorities were investigating the possibility that the blast was the result of a suicide attempt.
Bartha, 66, had recently lost a $4 million judgment in a divorce case, and was being forced to sell the 19th-century building as a result, according to court records.
Once on the scene, firefighters could hear BarthaÂ’s voice from the basement of the building, trapped under the rubble, said FDNY Assistant Chief of Operations Michael Weinlein.
“They said, ‘Hey, we think we got someone here,” Weinlein said. “The building was pancake down. It’s very surprising to find someone alive in that building.”
Bartha, who owns the building that housed his apartment and medical offices, was in critical condition last night with second- and third-degree burns. At least 15 other people were injured, including five civilians and 10 firefighters, fire officials said.
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, 36, who lives at 30 E. 62nd St., said he was on the corner of 62nd Street and Madison Avenue when the explosion occurred. After yelling to his wife and two children — who were across the street — to run in case of another blast, Kermaier had a big scare.
“My wife yelled back that the baby’s in the apartment. So I ran into my building and got the baby and the nanny out,” he said. “Thank God everyone is safe and sound.”
Kermaier said the “sudden, deafening boom” and subsequent collapse immediately covered the street with broken glass, burning wood and other debris.
Another resident of the neighboring building said her first thought was terrorism.
“I thought it was a bomb or an airplane crash,” said Sherry Miller. “After 9/11, you never know.”











'TREMENDOUS' EXPLOSION ROCKED BUILDING
by Joshua Rhett Miller

UPPER EAST SIDE — Firefighters were met with a “tremendous” amount of flames and burning rubble as they responded to the collapse of a four-story brownstone early yesterday after a gas explosion turned a once-tony block into a warzone.
“There was a lot of fire on arrival,” FDNY Assistant Chief of Operations Michael Weinlein said. “There was a total collapse of the building when we started out. So to start off with, there was not much to be able to get into the building.”
Miraculously, Weinlein said firefighters heard a noise coming from the massive amount of debris and soon realized someone had survived the “drastic” collapse.
“We heard some noise and as we quieted down the area, we were able to get someone in a little bit and they heard some more noise,” he said.
That noise was 66-year-old Nicholas Bartha, a doctor who owned the building that housed his medical offices and his apartment. Although badly burnt, Weinlein said Bartha was conscious when firefighters later reached him beneath 25 feet of rubble.
At about 4 p.m., roughly seven hours after the 8:40 a.m. blast at 34 East 62nd Street, Weinlein said firefighters were still extinguishing pockets of fire in the massive amount of debris.
Earlier in the day, FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said authorities were investigating the possibility that the explosion was the result of a suicide attempt.
“We’re still investigating that, talking about the potential for suicide,” he said.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told the Associated Press that Bartha recently sent out an e-mail to his ex-wife in which he contemplated suicide:
“When you read this ... your life will change forever. You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead.”