'It's Too Much Pain,' Firefighter Hurt In 2015 Blast Says: Report

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A retired firefighter who fought fires following an East Village explosion lives in constant pain after he was injured that day in March 2015, according to a report.

The New York Post reported former Battalion Chief Edward Tierney testified during an ongoing trial for the explosion on Wednesday, saying, "I live in pain. ... I can't even put a pair of socks on."

Tierney was injured while fighting the fire at March 26, 2015 after an illegal gas line sparked an explosion, killing two.

"When all the debris started falling I actually got struck two or three times," Tierney said at the manslaughter trial for landlord Maria Hrynenko, contractor Dilber Kukic and unlicensed plumber Anthanasios 'Jerry' Ioannidis, according to the Post.

"I fell down two times and had to be helped up."

"I can’t even cut my toenails. Yesterday I had my daughter do it," he said, according to the newspaper. "I used to love to swim. It’s too much. It’s too much pain."

Tierney, who also was diagnosed with blood cancer likely from World Trade Center toxins following the 9/11 attacks, later underwent extensive surgery for the injuries from the East Village explosion, ending his FDNY career, the newspaper reported.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office alleged the blast was caused by an illegal gas line set up in the basement, after landlord Hrynenko hired the contractor, Kukic, to renovate apartments at 121 Second Avenue. Kukic then hired Ioannidis to perform the work.

But since Ioannidis did not have a proper license, he paid another plumber Andrew Trombettas to allow Ioannidis to use his credentials, prosecutors allege.

Trombettas got three years probation and 100 hours of community service in a plea deal earlier this year for the scheme.

The building was managed by Hrynenko's son, Michael Hrynenko, who was also charged but died while awaiting trial.

Jurors heard testimony Monday from one of the deceased Nicholas Figueroa's father, Nixon Figueroa, who said: 'That's the day I died. ... I have a picture of my son's face in the moment when he's flying through the air and the anguish that he had and the pain when he knew he wasn't coming back. ... It broke my heart."

Lawyers for defendants argued Hrynenko wouldn't have put her son, who was also among the injured, at risk, and the gas leak could have come from a faulty line in the sushi restaurant that was on the ground floor of the building, the Post reported.

Click here to read the full New York Post report.