Fire heavily damages Hempstead home, displaces 4 residents, authorities say
Firefighters at the scene of a house fire in Hempstead early Wednesday that displaced four residents. Credit: Paul Mazza
An early morning fire left a Hempstead home uninhabitable Wednesday, displacing four residents, Nassau County fire officials said.
Nassau Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Andrew Schmitt said the occupants safely self-evacuated and the Red Cross is working to find them temporary housing. One police officer suffered a hand laceration after responding to the scene, Schmitt said.
No additional injuries were reported.
The fire at the two-story home on Rutland Road was reported at 12:11 a.m. Schmitt said in an email that about 60 firefighters from 10 Nassau departments — Hempstead, South Hempstead, Baldwin, Garden City, Elmont, Freeport, Rockville Centre, Roosevelt, Uniondale and Westbury — responded, bringing the fire under control by about 12:45 a.m.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation by fire marshals and investigators from the Nassau Police Arson Bomb Squad.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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