Fire in apparent vacant Hempstead house spreads to 2nd home, displacing 18 people, officials say

An early morning house fire in Hempstead spread to an adjacent home, displacing 18 people and injuring a firefighter, authorities said.

The Hempstead Fire Department responded to a call for fire at 102 Oak Ave. at 12:48 a.m. and found the two-story private dwelling fully engulfed in flames, according Capt. David Maickel of the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Arriving units reported the fire, in a house that appeared to be "vacant and under construction," had extended to a second house, Maickel wrote in a news release. A total people were displaced he said.

One firefighter was treated at the scene for a hand injury, Maickel said.

The Hempstead Fire Department was assisted at the scene by firefighters from West Hempstead, Uniondale, South Hempstead, Freeport and Baldwin. About 75 firefighters responded to the blaze.

The fire marshal's office and the Nassau police arson/bomb squad are investigating the cause of the fire.

The Hempstead fire was the second fire in two days that spread from one home to an adjacent house.

A fast-moving house fire in Bellmore early Wednesday that spread to a neighboring residence left one man dead, another person critically injured and two police officers hurt, officials said.

Both dwellings were destroyed.

The fires in Hempstead and Bellmore were the latest in a rash of house fires since last weekend, that have killed two people and displaced about two dozen others.

A fire Saturday ripped through a ranch-style home in Plainview, killing a 67-year-old woman, officials said.

Later Saturday, six residents of an apartment building in East Meadow were taken to a hospital to be evaluated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in a first-floor apartment on Newbridge Road.

In that fire, as in the fatal Belmore blaze, firefighters were delayed by snow-encased fire hydrants. Authorities said digging out the hydrant in Bellmore did not impact rescue operations. 

Check back for updates on this developing story.