By Sarah Moskowitz
Just after 6 p.m. on Oct. 4, Guy and Jeanne Loyer were loading their three young daughters into their car when they noticed smoke billowing from the front bedroom window of Paccio's home located at 3 Fifth Ave. Guy said he immediately phoned 911. The dispatcher instructed him to call the local fire department and consequently hung up.
"I was pretty mad," said Guy, who lives across the street from Paccio's home.
Several other neighbors claim they too tried to place calls to 911 reporting the fire. Stephanie Seitz said when she called 911 around 6:30 p.m., after being notified by her daughter, Jaclyn, that smoke was coming from the house next door, a 911 dispatcher gave her a hard time. Seitz said she had to use forceful language to be connected with the fire department.
Cindy Korzevinski, who lives next to the Loyers, said she called the fire department directly after being alerted by Jeanne Loyer. Korzevinski was unsure of the time, but estimates it was before 6:30 p.m.
According to East Rockaway Fire Department Chief Daniel Pignataro, the department received a dispatch about a working fire at 6:24 p.m. and arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.
The Loyers believe that in the time that lapsed between the first and second phone calls reporting the fire, perhaps Paccio's life could have been saved.
"That woman might have lived," said Guy. "Who knows."
Korzevinski agrees that the delay may have been responsible for Paccio's death.
"The response was too long due to the 911 hang-up," said Korzevinski.
The Nassau County Police Department Information Office's Deputy Commanding Officer, Detective Sgt. Anthony Repalone, said when a citizen calls 911 to report a fire the county police department will notify the county fire communications department, which then dispatches the call to the local fire department. After checking 911 call records for Oct. 4, Repalone said two calls were made and dispatched to fire communications. In Guy's case, Repalone said while Guy was put on hold to be connected to Nassau County Fire Communications, he hung up.
Immediately after the 911 dispatcher cut off his call, Guy said he approached the burning house and escorted Alice Moskowitz out of her home at 5 Fifth Ave., the apartment to the side of Paccio's home. Moskowitz, who was unharmed, was picked up by her sister between 8 and 9 p.m. Moskowitz is currently living with her sister in Levittown.
Along with an unidentified passerby, Guy said they proceeded to attempt to break down the front door with patio furniture on Paccio's porch but the door was bolted shut. He said they also knocked out the air conditioner to see if anyone was inside. Guy said he was unaware of a back door to the house, which he later saw firefighters use to enter the home. Seitz said there were no sounds coming from inside the house while it was ablaze.
"We never heard any cries for help, any screams, nothing," said Seitz. "We didn't even think anyone was home." Seitz added that her son, Jeffrey, had seen Paccio putting out her garbage about 15 minutes before they noticed the fire.
Upon arrival to the scene, the East Rockaway Fire Department and Nassau County Police found the house fully engulfed in flames. The fire department had the blaze under control within 20 minutes.
Firefighters Edward Reicherter, Kenneth Gilloon and Dominic Lamanno entered the house and discovered Paccio unconscious on her kitchen floor, according to Pignataro. She was taken outside where she was found to have no pulse and was not breathing and assumed to have suffered smoke inhalation. Paccio was immediately administered CPR by the East Rockaway Fire Department Rescue Squad but she was not revived. Paccio was sent to South Nassau Communities where she was pronounced dead soon after
It is unknown how the blaze began. There were no smoke detectors in the house. The fire is under investigation by the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office and Nassau County Police Department's Arson-Bomb Squad.
Paccio was the mother of four. One of her daughters had moved out of the house about six months ago to live with her fianc
