2020 explosion, fire still burns for Meadowmere Park residents

After all the fire trucks, firefighters and other emergency equipment that responded to the Nov. 1, 2020 explosion and fire that wrecked three Meadowmere Park homes that early Sunday morning, the residents had to rebuild.

The house that was at 3 South Street, where the explosion that ignited the fire originated, is presently a vacant property, while 5 South Street has been fully rebuilt, and 1 South Street is being rebuilt.

All three homes were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished soon after the explosion. 5 South Street, home of Deborah, Vincent, and Charles Lombardo, was demolished in the same month of the incident.

“It was a bittersweet day as we watched 65 years of family history taken away,” wrote Vincent Lombardo on the GoFundMe page created by Tinamarie Lombardo, a niece and cousin of the family.

The Lombardo’s GoFundMe, which remains live, has 173 donations and raised nearly $27,500, as of press time. The newly, completely rebuilt Lombardo residence stands beside a dirt lot, previously 3 South Street, which is currently enclosed by fencing.

“The house that blew up, they didn’t touch it yet,” said Meadowmere Park Fire Chief Kevin Carrero, “They just knocked it down, that was it.”

Anil Mehta and Sid Mehta, the then residents of 3 South Street, have moved, neighbors said. Anil went to Queens and Sid went to California.

On the other side of the dirt lot, construction workers were working at 1 South Street on Nov. 4. The vacant empty structure has scaffolding on one side and remains in a state of reconstruction.

Residents of 1 South Street, Mohamed and Azza-Ellaboudy Ibrahim, also received donations through a GoFundMe set up by a friend, Maria Rodriguez. The Ibrahim GoFundMe, which is still live, received 19 donations and raised nearly $2,200, as of press time.

It has been a little more than a year since the explosion and the related fire, neighbor Arlene Silva of West Ave is impressed by the quick rebuild of the homes at 5 and 1 South Street. Silva and her husband are just getting back into their house this week after some complications caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. “Look how far they are,” Silva said, “and we already had a whole house to begin with!”

To donate to the respective GoFundMe sites, go to https://bit.ly/3CWdEM4 for the Lombardo family and https://bit.ly/31t5CMx for the Ibrahim families.