Lawyer of FDNY Firefighter's Widow Blasts Movie Company

The lawyer for the widow of a firefighter killed on a Harlem movie set blasted the film company Thursday after the Fire Department released its official report on why Lt. Michael Davidson perished in 2018.

Attorney Vito Cannavo — who has sued the city and actor Edward Norton’s Class 5 Production company on behalf of Eileen Davidson, the firefighter’s widow and mom of his four children — said the FDNY’s Safety Command report supports the claim that the actor’s company was in some way responsible for the firefighter’s death.

“We agree that that movie set disguised the extent of the fire and disguised the true involvement of the premises which led these firefighters to be unaware that the fire was more involved,” Cannavo told the Daily News. “Michael Davidson got trapped because the conditions had deteriorated to a greater degree than the firefighters anticipated.”

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Norton, who was directing and acting in “Motherless Brookyn,” a movie based on a Jonathan Lethem novel, was at the Harlem movie set on March 23, 2018 when Davidson, 37, was overcome by toxic smoke when he ran out of air, trapped inside the cluttered basement at 773 St. Nicholas Ave. near W. 149th St.

On Wednesday, The News reported the FDNY Safety Command report concluded that the alterations made by the film company concealed the true extent of the blaze. The department was never notified of the alterations and the responding firefighters had no idea what they were walking in to.

“The safety report validates the claim," Cannavo said. “It demonstrates that the movie company is directly involved. These firefighters were placed in a very dangerous situation and Michael Davidson was killed as a result of their actions.”

On March 14, a state court judge in Manhattan rejected the film company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

There are at least two other lawsuits filed against the city, the movie company and the owner of the building, Vincent Lampkin.

Lampkin’s lawyer said the film company did not take out permits for the alterations that were done.

“That building was there for over 100 years ... and nothing ever happened,” attorney Geovanny Fernandez said. “Then the building is used as a film set for a high profile movie and 2 massive trucks outside, and many many lights and electrical usage and equipment and false walls and fire breaks out resulting in the death of a fireman.”

Marvin Putnam, an attorney for Class 5 Productions, did not respond to a phone call and emails. But in the motion to dismiss the Davidson case, he argued that the company did nothing wrong, and the plaintiffs have been unable to link its actions to the fire.

“In no way did any action or inaction by Class 5 cause the fire or Davidson’s death,” the brief says.

The FDNY Safety Command report said in future the Fire Department should be notified when a movie or TV production company is working in a given building.

On Thursday, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment said the agency is supportive of the proposal.

“We are coordinating with the FDNY to enhance our permitting questionnaire to ensure that the FDNY will have adequate information about proposed filming activity to determine if there are fire safety concerns,” it said in a statement.

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