By Rebecca Shalomoff
The victim, identified by authorities as Claire Tobin, who was in her 90s, died on Nov. 12, apparently unable to escape her Adele Rd. home when the fire broke out.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Nassau County Fire Marshal, but it was not listed as suspicious, officials said. The blaze apparently erupted in a bedroom on the second floor of the house where Tobin's body was found, said Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Chief Tony DeLuca.
When we got there, smoke was coming out of the roof area, DeLuca said. She was an elderly woman who had trouble walking. Maybe she couldn't get out of the house.
Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Steven Wenk said the fire could have been sparked by an accident, which could mean a few different possibilities. DeLuca said the preliminary investigation shows the woman may have been smoking in bed.
Officials are not sure if Tobin died from smoke inhalation or was burned to death. They are still awaiting an autopsy report from the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.
The report would establish the carbon monoxide level in Tobin's body, how much smoke she took in and the depth and degree of burns around her body, Wenk said.
This is a situation where it's more important to be accurate than quick, he added.
At around 2 p.m., a neighbor who lives across the street saw clouds of smoke billowing through the second-floor window of Tobin's brown house. Knowing that Tobin was probably trapped in the house, the neighbor said she tried to run into the house to save the elderly woman, but too no avail. The fire and flames were intense, the neighbor said.
A UPS employee, who was making a delivery on Adele Road, also saw the fire burning and called 911, the neighbor said.
When firefighters arrived, they broke through the windows and ran into the house to put the fire out. The fire burned for several minutes, damaging the entire second floor. Firefighters from four different stations
