Electrical Fire Breaks Out in West Hempstead

Four West Hempstead residents rushed out of their home early Thursday afternoon after a fire broke out in their second-floor bedroom.

and Departments both responded to the call around 11a.m. on Dec. 23.When they arrived at the home on Sycamore Street, they saw plenty of smoke, but no flames.

"The four occupants were out before we got here," said West Hempstead Fire Chief Craig Hayes.

Among them were an unidentified woman and her baby, and sisters Cynthia and Heidy Alvarado, who had been sleeping in the basement of the home when the fire broke out

"We woke up when we heard a knock on the basement door and heard a lady say there was a fire upstairs," said Heidy, who was in town visiting her older sister. "We got out right away. "

"They had seen an orange aura coming from the upstairs room," said Hayes, whose unit responded with a ladder truck, while Lakeview arrived with an engine. 

The fire was extinguished in under 15 minutes.

"It was a quick knock down," Hayes added.

After investigating the residence, the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office ruled the fire to be an accident and determined that it was caused by an extension cord failure. 

Vincent McManus, spokesman for the Fire Marshal's office, said the cord ignited a mattress which had been resting nearby against a wall.

"The cord may have been pinched,"  McManus said. "Fortunately, there isn't a tremendous amount of damage."

According to McManus, only the contents of the room where ruined in the fire. "There was no structural damage," he said.

"Thankfully no one was hurt," added a Nassau County police officer who was on the scene.