Woman found dead in Mineola fire

Firefighters responding to a house fire in Mineola just after midnight Tuesday made a terrible discovery: a woman, 71, dead in a first-floor rear bedroom.

Nassau County police have not released the identity of the woman found in the two-family home on Jackson Avenue. However, they said the fire marshal's office has determined the blaze does not appear to be suspicious, though the case remains under investigation by the Arson/Bomb Squad.

The fire was reported at 12:01 a.m., police said. After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters found the woman in a back bedroom. It was not immediately clear how she died.

Police initially described the victim as a man, 72. It was not immediately clear why the victim was misidentified.

Volunteers from Mineola and Williston Park responded with about 85 firefighters and 10 trucks.

Gana McCrann, 30, an insurance saleswoman who lives across the street from the burned home, said Tuesday an elderly woman lived on one side of the two-family home and two young women on the other.

Other neighbors also said they often saw the three women.

McCrann said she was awakened by the sounds of fire trucks and flashing lights about midnight.

"The whole left side of the house was on fire," she said. She then saw flames shoot out of the front and top of the house.

"It was really scary," she said.