Playing with Fire: School wasn’t inspected for years before fire

A News 12 investigation found that a prominent northern Westchester religious school that was destroyed in a fire hadn’t been inspected for several years, despite violations.
A fire on Feb. 17 destroyed the Yeshiva of Nitra on Croton Lake Road in Mount Kisco. A News 12 investigation found that a fire inspection in 2010 turned up several safety infractions but never had any follow-up, which was legally required. The copy of the inspection, dated April 5, 2010, reveals that one of the violations at the school was outdated fire extinguishers.
There are at least 19 other properties in New Castle with past-due inspections, something New Castle town administrator Jill Shapiro says the town only discovered after News 12 requested the documents.
It turns out that a computer glitch was preventing inspection alerts in an online calendar that tracks about 300 properties for which the town is responsible.
Shapiro has offered an apology and promises it won’t happen again.
The cause of the fire at the yeshiva appears to be electrical and not suspicious, but the county says it is keeping the investigation open due to the extent of the damage.
News 12 has learned that electricians from the town will be on the site of the yeshiva on Wednesday to follow up.