By MIKE CAPUTO
East Meadow firefighters responded to the fire, at 121 Pilgrim Lane, after receiving a call at about 7:30 a.m.
As a neighbor, Debbie Fazio, was preparing to walk her dog, she heard shouting coming from the direction of the home across the street. It was the voice of Michael Sinclair, 20, who stood in front of his burning home, yelling for his father, who remained inside, Fazio said.
"I heard Michael screaming: 'Dad, Dad! Answer me!'" Fazio said. "I said, 'Michael, what's the matter?' and he said, 'The house is on fire and I can't get in.'" Fazio asked Sinclair if he had called 911, and when he said no, she ran back inside her home to make the call.
When firefighters arrived, they searched the first floor in vain before recovering a body in a second-floor room, officials said. The victim was identified as Michael Sinclair's father, Thomas, 62, a longtime Salisbury resident and the owner of the home, which was destroyed.
Officials said that Michael Sinclair was transported to Nassau University Medical Center, where he was treated for unspecified minor injuries and released. He could not be reached for comment.
According to East Meadow Fire Chief Eric Becker, the fire was well developed when responders first arrived. "We launched a very aggressive interior firefight, and we were met with a real heavy volume of fire that was well involved prior to us getting there," Becker said.
Firefighters were able to knock out the fire on the first floor, Becker explained, and worked their way up to the second floor despite the collapse of a staircase.
The fire was deemed under control within an hour, Becker said, though firefighters continued their efforts throughout the morning. The East Meadow department received assistance from the Westbury, North Bellmore and Levittown fire departments.
No details were available on the fire's cause because the incident was being investigated by the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office as the Herald went to press.
Fazio, a neighbor and close friend of the Sinclairs for nearly 25 years, emotionally recounted the family's recent tragic past. Karen Sinclair, Michael's mother, died in July 2007 after a three-year battle with colon cancer, Fazio said, recalling that she helped Tom take care of his wife until her final days.
Tom Sinclair was dedicated to his family, Fazio said. "He was a good guy who loved his wife and was a hard worker," she said, "and he was so good to his son."
Only a couple of weeks before Karen died, Fazio said, a tree fell on the house during a storm, but fortunately it did not cause major damage.
According to Fazio, Tom Sinclair was a salesman at a Ford dealership until he lost his job in 2008. She said he was looking for a new job until he recently started working from home.
Two hours after the fire, Fazio said she found it difficult to grasp what she had witnessed. "I'm like in shock," she said. "This is just like out of a movie."
Her 23-year-old son, Bobby, had also watched as flames engulfed their neighbors' home. "I have never seen anything like that before," he said.
Several other Pilgrim Lane residents watched as firefighters tried to corral the raging fire. One of them, Jon Despagni, said he remembered the tree incident and knew of the recent difficulties the family has dealt with. "This is a sad loss for our block," Despagni said.
According to a release from the Nassau County Red Cross, the organization's volunteers who were on the scene offered Michael Sinclair help in finding a temporary place to live and money for food and clothing.
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
