UPDATE: Lakeview Home Reignites 10 Hours After First Fire

Updated: 2:41 p.m., Jan. 6, 2012

Roughly 10 hours after local firefighters had extinguished inside a two-story home in Lakeview Sunday, they found themselves battling a second, and more ferocious fire, at the same address.

When the firefighters from , Rockville Centre and Malverne were first called to the home on Dekoven Street Sunday afternoon, they were able to contain the fire so that only the left side of the home sustained damage. However, when they returned to the scene again around 11:30 p.m. the entire second story of the home was engulfed in flames, Lakeview Chief Michael Koppel told Patch.

Working together, the three departments tackled the blaze and spent hours working inside the scorched home. No one was injured and the firefighters were able to contain the fire to the top floor, keeping the first floor intact aside from some water damage. Koppel, his assistant chief, Heather Senti. and the Nassau County Fire Marshal didn't leave the scene until 3:15 a.m. Monday.

The first incident appeared to be caused by a rubbish fire that broke out outside of the home, but quickly spread to the left side of the house, up to the second story and then inside, according to firefighters at the scene. But the cause of the second blaze remains unclear.

"It's hard to determine," said Koppel, who was one of the first people at the scene Sunday night and found the top portion of the home consumed by flames.

Although one of the homeowners, a woman, and two of her sons, had been inside the house when the initial blaze broke out and unharmed, Koppel said they were not home when it reignited. Their next-door neighbor reported the fire after someone knocked on his door calling attention to the blaze. He had not seen or heard anything himself, because he had been watching the Super Bowl game, Koppel explained.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal was called to the scene and is investigating the incident, but Koppel said in the end the cause of the fire may not be determined.

"The fire was extinguished when we left there," Koppel said regarding the initial blaze. He explained that even the Fire Marshal and the company called in to the board up the place acknowledged that they didn't smell any smoke or evidence of a lingering fire when surveying the home Sunday afternoon after the first call.

"Usually if a rekindle does occur it happens within the first 2-5 hours," Koppel said, pointing out that the second fire broke out nearly 11 hours later. "That's a long-time for something to be smoldering" without catching fire, he explained, especially considering any existing embers would have had plenty of oxygen available to them since a large portion of the home's roof had been destroyed.

After speaking with the homeowners, Koppel said they told him that they didn't think anything suspicious caused the fire. 

"It's disheartening to say the least," Koppel said. "We're concerned over what took place."

Stay with Patch for more developments.