Fatal fire: Domino's owner has stores in Westchester, Rockland

WAPPINGERS FALLS – The owner of a Domino's Pizza, where a 19-year-old village resident died Wednesday in a fire, said he had no idea that fire inspectors told the business last fall to remove a deadbolt from a rear door.

"I learned about it in the press this morning," said owner John Cilmi of North Salem, who also operates Domino's franchises in Westchester and Rockland counties.

Adam Justiniano died of smoke inhalation in the early morning blaze that consumed the Domino's in Dutchess Plaza on Route 9, according to Wappingers Falls Police Officer Paolo Capparelli.

Justiniano was one of three employees inside Domino's, which was closed around 5 a.m. when the fire broke out, officials said. The two who escaped refused medical attention at the scene, Capparelli said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials said they have no reason to believe it was deliberately set.

Capparelli said police were still trying to determine why anyone was inside. He said Cilmi, the owner, told police that Justiano was to start work Wednesday.

"We had just acquired in the latter part of 2013 the Wappingers Falls and Poughkeesie locations from a different franchise owner and were just beginning to build our future in this market," Cilmi said in a statement released Friday. "We were hopeful that Adam was going to be a bright part of that future."

Mayor Matt Alexander said an on-site fire inspection was done last fall, in which the store was cited for violations, including having a deadbolt on the rear door and having emergency and exit lighting that needed to be repaired. An employee, he said, signed off on the inspection.

"We had repeatedly come back to see if they had addressed those issues and they were not addressed," he said. "We are saddened by the loss of one of our youth and I think that a group of people made some bad decisions and there was an accident."

The mayor said he was unaware if the deadbolt was a factor in Justiniano's death.

Cilmi, operating as JMC Holdings Inc., owns eight Domino's restaurants, including locations in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Spring Valley, West Haverstraw and Yonkers. He owns a roughly $580,000 home in North Salem, according to the Town Assessor's Office.

He was in the news last month as one of six Domino's franchise owners involved in a $448,000 settlement with underpaid minimum-wage employees that state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's Office announced March 27. He must pay $100,000 in connection with the settlement, Schneiderman's office said.

Based on the use and occupancy limits, state law does not require the Wappingers Falls Domino's to have sprinklers or smoke alarms, Alexander said. The restaurant did not have sprinklers. Alexander was unsure if it had smoke alarms.

Thomas Scianna, 18, of Wappingers Falls graduated from high school with Justiniano, the oldest of four children and a member of Ketcham's wrestling team. Scianna said his friend loved wrestling and played basketball for fun. Scianna said Justiniano had been talking to U.S. Marine recruiters and considered going to college, but wanted to work and save money first.

"He had a bright future ahead of him, a very bright future," Scianna said.

"It's one of the toughest days of my life," he said. "I'm almost in denial, because I feel like he's still here and he's not."

Staff writer Lee Higgins contributed to this report.