Valley Stream apartment fire injures seven, displaces dozens

More than two dozen people were left without a home and seven were sent to area hospitals after a fire at a North Central Avenue apartment building early Monday morning.

The fire, which was reported at about 4:45 a.m., destroyed one apartment at 315 N. Central Ave. and left other units in the building uninhabitable because of smoke and water damage. Valley Stream firefighters responded to the scene and found heavy fire in a first-floor apartment. It took 80 firefighters about an hour and a half to extinguish the blaze.

A second, attached building was unaffected by the fire, but gas and electricity were cut off to those apartments. The services were restored later in the day. Lisa Kurz, who lives in that building, said she heard an alarm for several minutes. After looking out her window and seeing a police car pull up, she said, she initially thought something was happening at the stores across Hendrickson Avenue. But after going outside to see what was happening, she discovered smoke and flames coming from the windows of one of the apartments.

By that point, Kurz said, firefighters were arriving and flames were starting to blow out the living room windows. “My building wasn’t affected, but we were also evacuated,” she said, adding that the occupants in her building were not allowed to return until the fire was out. “It was a pretty scary thing.”

Two police officers, two firefighters and one resident were taken to Nassau University Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation. One firefighter suffered a hand injury that required surgery, according to Valley Stream Fire Chief Joseph Fernandez, and was taken to North Shore Hospital. Another suffered an ankle injury and was taken to nearby Franklin Hospital.

Firefighters rescued two residents from a second-floor apartment, helping them escape through a window and taking them down by ladder. Fernandez said that the building does have fire escapes, but they were iced over and unsafe.

Fernandez said that the woman who lives in the apartment where the fire started got out safely, even though the fire began in her living room. He said she knocked on the doors of other apartments in the building to tell everyone to get out. The building does not have a fire-alarm system, he noted.

One fire hydrant nearby was covered by snow, Fernandez said, and had to be quickly dug out by firefighters. He said that people need to clear hydrants of snow and ice so they are readily accessible in case of an emergency like this. “Fortunately, we knew where the hydrant was and we had the equipment,” he said. “That could have been a major factor.”

The Elmont, Hewlett, Lawrence-Cedarhurst, Lynbrook, Malverne and Woodmere fire departments provided mutual aid. Fernandez said that firefighters were on the scene for nearly four hours.

The Red Cross of Nassau County was called in to provide assistance to the displaced families. Spokesman Sam Kille said that about a dozen apartments were affected, and that hotel rooms were provided for at least 12 people, in addition to money for food and clothing.

Richard Graves, whose daughter, son-in-law and 3-year-old grandson live in the apartment next to where the fire started, said they will be staying with him for a while. The apartment suffered smoke damage and some broken windows, and there were holes in the ceiling where firefighters checked to make sure flames hadn’t spread.

Graves noted that there were fire breaks between the apartments, which spared his daughter’s home from further damage. According to Fernandez, the building has cinder-block walls separating the units.

Yelva Simeon, who lives on the building’s first floor, wasn’t home at the time but came back to find much of her apartment blackened by the smoke. “I was so shocked,” she said. “It damaged a lot. My bedroom set was damaged.”

The Valley Stream Walmart store opened earlier than normal for the fire victims, Graves said, as many, including his son-in-law, needed clothes after fleeing in just their pajamas.

Fernandez said the exact cause of the fire, which was contained to the one apartment, was unknown, but appeared to be accidental.

Clarissa Hamlin contributed to this story.