Oceanside fire causes evacuation, damages apartments, officials say
Firefighters from eight Nassau County departments responded Monday, April 25, 2016, to a fire in an Oceanside building that houses both commercial businesses and residences, police and fire officials said. Credit: Paul Mazza
Nearly 70 people were left without housing when a predawn blaze Monday ripped through an Oceanside building, the American Red Cross and fire officials said.
Firefighters from eight Nassau County departments were able to contain the fire on Long Beach Road to the building of origin, according to Oceanside Fire Department Chief John T. Madden.
A spokesman for the Red Cross of Greater New York, Michael de Vulpillieres, said 14 apartments were “damaged or destroyed” by the fire, affecting 68 residents — including 19 children. There were no reported injuries, Nassau County police and fire officials said.
The Red Cross said teams at the scene were handing out food, water and blankets to residents. The organization also provided temporary housing at local hotels for 13 families.
The fire, which began in a building housing the D&D Convenience store, was reported in a 911 call just after 4 a.m. The row of storefronts is at Long Beach Road and West Windsor Parkway.
“We started out with a heavy offensive attack trying to get in there to put the fire out, and it was just too much,” Madden said. “We ended up having to pull back. We did manage to contain it to the original fire building and keep it in the convenience store and the apartment above it.”
“We started out trying to attack the fire from the inside, but the roof had collapsed about 25 feet inside the building, so we pulled out and hit it from the outside,” Madden said. “We managed to confine it to the original building, and it took us about two hours to get it under control.”
Alex Obregom, who lived in an apartment above a convenience store that was burned during a pre-dawn blaze, removed personal items from his apartment at the scene of the fire on Long Beach Road near Windsor Pkwy on Monday, April 25, 2016 in Oceanside. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Responding firefighters came from Oceanside, Freeport, Rockville Centre, East Rockaway, Long Beach, Island Park, Point Lookout and Lido Beach, according to officials.
The fire caused the rear of the convenience store and the apartment above it to collapse, Madden said. When he and other firefighters arrived at the scene, there was “heavy fire coming out of the second floor from the back of the building, that was spreading down to the first floor.”
The cause of the fire is still being investigated, Madden said.
In a statement, Nassau police said the fire “does not appear to be suspicious at this time.”
Alex Obregom, who lived in an apartment above a convenience store that was burned during a pre-dawn blaze, removed personal items from his apartment at the scene of the fire on Long Beach Road near Windsor Pkwy on Monday, April 25, 2016 in Oceanside. Credit: Howard Schnapp
With Gary Dymski
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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