2 admit to manslaughter in NYC house blast

NEW YORK — Two men have pleaded guilty to manslaughter in an explosion at a marijuana grow house that killed a New York City fire battalion chief.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark says Garivaldi Castillo and Julio Salcedo pleaded guilty Friday. Clark says it’s an “an extremely rare instance” of holding people criminally responsible for conditions that caused a firefighter’s death.

The September 2016 blast in the Bronx killed Michael Fahy, a 17-year fire department veteran. He had responded to a report of a gas leak at the house.

Clark says the leaking gas couldn’t escape through foil-covered windows. She says marijuana plants, heaters and fertilizer were found in the home.

The 33-year-old Castillo has been promised a two-to-six-year prison term. The 36-year-old Salcedo will be sentenced to one to three years. (AP)