Firefighters put out electrical fire in Hicksville house

Firefighters doused an electrical fire after navigating dangerously messy hallways in a Hicksville house Saturday night, fire officials said.

The blaze started around 8 p.m. in a first-floor bedroom on Walnut Lane, said Hicksville Fire Department 1st Assistant Chief Richard Diaz.

The cause was too many items plugged into a power strip, Diaz said.

Firefighters had trouble moving through the house because the hallways and rooms were crammed with items, he said.

"We can't walk through the house, walk down hallways," he said. "Stuff piled everywhere."

Residents of a second-floor apartment evacuated before firefighters arrived, Diaz said. Residents of the first-floor apartment were not at home. Nobody was injured.

Firefighters contained the fire to the bedroom and put it out by around 10 p.m., Diaz said.

The Hicksville, Bethpage, Syosset, Levittown and Plainview departments responded, he said.