FORESTBURGH- For Jim Steinberg, passing “Billy’s Law” is personal, and on what would have been his son’s 40th birthday he and his family are renewing their call to state lawmakers to pass the law named in their son’s honor that would close the “arson loophole” in the state’s bail reform law.
Forestburgh Volunteer Fire Company Firefighter William “Billy” Steinberg tragically died in the line of duty on January 15, 2022, while responding to a structure fire in Monticello. He was 37 years old. The fire that claimed Steinberg’s life was set by an arsonist who had lit two prior fires in the same area, including one on January 13, just two days before the fire that was set that claimed Billy’s life. The state’s bail reform laws required the arsonist, Mohammed Islam, 32 of Brooklyn, to be released on appearance tickets for the first two fires he set because not all felony arson charges are bail-eligible under state law.
In December of 2022, Islam pled guilty to arson and manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
Jim Steinberg believes that if it weren’t for bail reform his son would still be alive today. “It’s heartbreaking, and it’s something I don’t want any other family to have to go through,” he said.
Billy Steinberg was a fourth-generation firefighter with 22 years of service, having joined the fire company in 2000 as a junior volunteer firefighter. In the years to follow, he was elected president of the company and then worked his way up through the line to assistant chief. On his birthday in February 2022, he was posthumously promoted to chief. Billy Steinberg was also a member of Laborers’ Local 17 in Newburgh and worked for Sullivan Construction as a traffic foreman.
After his death, Billy’s family began a scholarship fund in his name. Each year, an award is made to a graduating Monticello High School student with a preference for an individual interested in a career in the…
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