Burning house cited for building code violations

updated 11:00 a.m. ET Jan. 12, 2008

WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - An obstetrician saved his wife and six children from a fire that ravaged their home, delivered a baby while the house was still smoldering and then got cited with building violations.

Dr. Herman Weiss said Friday "was just my day."

The 37-year-old awoke around 3 a.m. to the screech of a smoke detector and the sight of flames inching up an outside wall of his Long Island home. He got his family to safety, then was paged and went to a hospital to deliver an infant around 6 a.m.

The fire brought scrutiny from building inspectors, who cited the Weisses with a discrepancy in plumbing plans and living in the house without a certificate of occupancy. Weiss said the family had hired a lawyer to get one.

The family has been ordered to tear down the damaged house. Weiss said he hopes to rebuild in the same place.

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