A Long Island Street Is Named For Fallen New York City Firefighter
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YAPHANK — A New York City firefighter who died last year of injuries he suffered battling a fire at a Bronx discount store was remembered with a street-renaming ceremony near his Long Island home.
Fire Lt. Howard Carpluk, 43, died August 28, 2006, one day after he became trapped in a pile of smoking rubble at a 99 cent store. The blaze also killed rookie firefighter, Michael Reilly, 25.
In a ceremony Saturday, a street near Carpluk’s home in Yaphank was renamed the Howie Carpluk Memorial Road.
“This is a celebration of his life,” Carpluk’s widow, Debbie, said “We needed to do something.”
The crowd of 150 included fellow firefighters and neighbors who remembered Carpluk’s efforts to stop the noise coming from a shooting range at Southhaven County Park, near his home.
“He was a pretty remarkable guy,” executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Richard Amper, said. “I meet a lot of people in my business. Few stand out the way he did.”
Mr. Amper worked with Carpluk on a lawsuit to shut the shooting range down. The lawsuit was dismissed in state Supreme Court but is on appeal.
