14 hurt in Christmas Day blaze at Hempstead apartment building
Firefighters respond to a Christmas Day blaze at an apartment building at 6 Sealy Ave. in Hempstead, which left one resident with critical burns. Credit: Howard Schnapp
More than a dozen people were injured, including one with critical burns, on Christmas Day when an apartment building in Hempstead caught fire, according to the Nassau County Fire Marshal.
Members of the Hempstead Fire Department responded at 12:21 p.m. to a blaze on the second floor of an apartment building on Sealy Avenue, according to Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro.
The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes with the assistance of 70 firefighters from five departments, he said.
Fire Marshal investigators and detectives from the Nassau County Police Department Arson Squad are investigating the Hempstead apartment blaze. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A total of 14 people were hurt, including 10 civilians who were taken to Nassau University Medical Center or NYU Langone-Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, Uttaro said.
One firefighter sustained a minor injury while a civilian was taken to NUMC with serious burns, and two individuals refused medical attention, he said.
Nine units of the 66-unit apartment building were rendered uninhabitable because of the fire, Uttaro said.
Fire Marshal investigators and detectives from the NCPD Arson Squad are investigating the blaze.
It happened a day after a fire at a Farmingdale home left three occupants hospitalized with smoke inhalation, Nassau police said.
Police said a Christmas Eve house fire on West Oak Street in Farmingdale resulted in three occupants being evacuated and taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and a minor cut. Credit: Tom Lambui
Officers from Nassau’s Eighth Precinct responded at 7 a.m. Saturday to reports of fire at a home on West Oak Street on Christmas Eve, police said in a statement.
When they arrived, officers found flames coming from the second floor of the home, according to Nassau’s Arson Bomb Squad.
The South Farmingdale and Bethpage fire departments responded and extinguished the blaze, authorities said.
Three occupants of the home were evacuated and taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and a minor cut.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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