A 33-year-old Long Island man has been arrested and charged over a firework accident that involved his 11-year-old son and two homes on fire, authorities say.
Karamjit Singh allegedly gave the child the firework outside his home in Levittown on the morning of July 4 and told the child to ignite it. It malfunctioned and ignited a detached shed, which became engulfed in flames, police said.
Police say the fire spread to Singh's home and to a neighbor's home. Both homes suffered extensive damage, police say. No one was in the neighbor's house at the time and no injuries were reported in the incident. A single mother neighbors said was also renting a portion of the Singhs' home and she too had to run for her life.
Firefighters were being credited with dousing the families quickly and preventing the damage from getting even worse.
Singh is charged with arson, reckless endangerment, child endangerment and various fireworks-related offenses.
Singh was released without bail Friday after pleading not guilty at his arraignment. NBC New York was there when he was left court.
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Singh did not comment on the charges against him. Information on a possible attorney for him wasn't immediately available Friday.
Local
In a separate incident in Suffolk County the night before, a man lost multiple fingers in a fireworks accident in Copiague. On Monday, such an accident cost another man a whole hand.
