Man who sparked fatal Bronx gas explosion by stealing stove planned to trade it for crack: prosecutors

Man who sparked fatal Bronx gas explosion by stealing stove planned to trade it for crack: prosecutors

Julian Roberts-Grmela, Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News

Thu, January 29, 2026 at 8:42 PM UTC

3 min read

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A homeless man accused of sparking a massive explosion and fatal fire at a Bronx high-rise told cops he disconnected his ex-girlfriend’s stove from the building’s gas line so he could trade the appliance for crack, prosecutors said Thursday.

Samuel Calderon is facing murder charges for the Saturday inferno at the Boston Secor Houses in Baychester that left one man dead and another in critical condition.

“I went there to steal her stove and sell it for a gram of crack,” Calderon, 55, told police after his arrest, according to the criminal complaint against him. “I smelled the gas and heard the hissing sound of gas, so I taped a blanket around the hole and left.”

Calderon was caught on a building surveillance camera trying to lug the stove out of his ex-girlfriend’s apartment on the 13th floor of the building on Bivona St. near Reeds Mill Lane but he ultimately ran off without it, law enforcement sources said.

A short time later, the FDNY were investigating reports of a gas smell on the top three floors of the 17-story building when “an explosion occurred” on the top floor around 12:15 a.m., FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said early Saturday.

The massive fire caused the 16th-floor ceiling to collapse onto 60-year-old Ronald McCallister, who died at a local hospital, officials said.

Five other people were taken to local hospitals for treatment, including a 37-year-old man found unconscious in critical condition, cops said. An FDNY firefighter was also among the injured.

Calderon, who has a long history of arrests, was nabbed Wednesday after he was spotted returning to the building wearing the same clothes he had on when he tried to steal the stove, prosecutors said.

“Yeah, that’s me taking the stove,” he told cops when he was shown the surveillance footage, according to court papers. “It’s the same sweater I’m wearing right now.”

His ex-girlfriend had an order of protection against Calderon and wasn’t home when the gas explosion occurred, officials said. Police sources said she had been staying at a domestic violence shelter for women when the suspect broke into her apartment.

“It’s my baby mama’s apartment,” Calderon told cops, according to court papers. “I know I’m not supposed to go there because she has an order of protection against me. I remember the judge telling me not to go near her or her home.”

Prosecutors charged Calderon with murder, burglary, manslaughter, petty larceny and criminal contempt for violating the order of protection. During a brief arraignment proceeding Thursday, Judge Matthew Grieco ordered him held without bail.

His hands handcuffed behind him, Calderon said nothing during the hearing. Tufts of white padding were sticking out of the holes in his worn winter coat as he pleaded not guilty.

His Legal Aid defense attorney did not respond to the allegations in court. Calderon is due back in court Tuesday.

During the blaze, heavy flames were seen blowing out windows and trapped residents were seen shouting for help as their neighbors scrambled downstairs, escaping the heavy smoke.

“It was really bad. The flames were just going up,” Delores Singleton, 49, told the Daily News Saturday. “You could see people hanging out of windows begging for their lives, [screaming,] ‘Help me! Help me!’”

More than 230 firefighters and EMS personnel raced to the scene to put out the massive conflagration and care for the injured. The fire was brought under control just before 5 a.m.

The city issued a full vacate order on the building after the fire, and NYPD officers were posted at the building’s entrances on Wednesday.

Calderon has been arrested more than 25 times since 1987, including two felony busts for burglary in 2008 and 2022, authorities say.

His most recent arrest was in November for criminal contempt and violating an order of protection at the building where Saturday’s fatal fire occurred, cops said.

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