Cops: Body found in Hempstead home fire
Nassau County police said firefighters reported finding a body in the aftermath of a fire on Burnett Street in Hempstead just before 6 a.m. Monday (Oct. 17, 2011) Credit: Lou Minutoli
Hempstead firefighters found the body of an apparently homeless man when they extinguished an early morning blaze Monday in a vacant home on Burnett Street, officials said.
A 911 call shortly after 5 a.m. reported the fire as being near South Franklin Avenue near Chase and Burnett streets, said First Assistant Chief Scott Clark of the Hempstead Fire Department. He said people on the street directed the responding units to the building on Burnett, just west of South Franklin Avenue.
"We had just finished working on a fire -- we had about three at about the same time this morning -- and we got there pretty quickly," Clark said.
After putting out the blaze, firefighters found the man's body inside the home near a front window, which had been blown out by the fire, Clark said.
"We believe him to have been a squatter," Clark said.
The man's identify has not been released.
Police and fire officials are investigating the cause.
With John Valenti
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'Tis the season for the NewsdayTV Holiday Show! The NewsdayTV team looks at the most wonderful time of the year and the traditions that make it special on LI.
