Wappingers Fire Victim Identified

The man who died in Wednesday’s fire in Wappingers Falls graduated from Ketcham High School last year.  Authorities have identified him as nineteen-year-old Adam Justiniano.  The investigation continues into how the fire started at Domino’s Pizza at Dutchess Plaza on Route Nine.  Authorities say it started with Justiniano and two other people inside Domino’s.  The others escaped.  The Poughkeepsie Journal reports mayor Matt Alexander saying the village at the end of last year cited Domino’s for fire safety violations over emergency and exit lighting.  Village officials ordered the store’s owner to remove a backdoor deadbolt.  Alexander says the village did not see whether or not the owner had addressed these issues.  He also says state law does not require this Domino’s to have sprinklers or smoke alarms.  It did not have sprinklers.  Alexander did not know about smoke alarms.  Police plan on interviewing the owner today.  He also owns seven other Domino’s restaurants in the region.  An obituary for Justiniano shows the chain had recently made him a manager.  A corporate spokesman tells the newspaper that the franchise planned on hiring him the day of the fire.

Here's some local reaction of the announcement from Twitter: