By Jeff Lipton
Firefighters responded to a blaze at 316 Doughty Blvd. shortly before 11:30 a.m. on April 26 and found the victim, Mary DeNicolo, sitting in a chair in the upstairs living room of the two-story home, according to fire officials, who pronounced her dead at the scene.
The longtime Inwood resident, who lived alone in the large house, was a smoker, and a cigarette is believed to have ignited the fierce blaze. Cigarettes and an ash tray were found near the body, according to Vincent McManus, a supervisor for the Nassau County Fire Marshal, which was called in to investigate. McManus called the fire accidental, and said that DeNicolo may have fallen asleep while smoking. But he added that authorities were awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine whether a medical condition might have caused her death before the fire erupted.
"We want to determine if she expired before, during or after the fire," McManus said, adding that if the fire caused the woman's death, she was more likely to have succumbed to the heavy smoke than to burns.
The fire was first spotted by a worker patching the asphalt on Doughty Boulevard, who noticed smoke billowing out of four windows of the victim's home, Inwood Fire Chief Frank Parise said. The worker, who is also a Mineola firefighter, immediately reported the fire and, along with another good Samaritan who saw it, tried to search the house for victims. They were driven back by the intense smoke and heat, officials said.
Inwood firefighters arrived within minutes to douse the flames, and then discovered the victim, who had suffered some burns, Parise said.
DeNicolo, who never married, lived by herself, so neighbors often looked after her, Parise said. She was predeceased by a brother who was an ex-chief of the Hewlett Fire Department. Another brother lives in Greenport, Long Island.
Sal Scotto, a next-door neighbor, was saddened when he received word that DeNicolo had died. "I've been living here since 1969, and she'd been here way before me," said Scotto, a former commander of the Inwood VFW John J. Oliveri Post 1582.
"I saw her from time to time, as she lived by herself in that big house," said Scotto. "She was very friendly, very nice and congenial. People knew her, she was a community person." He said they always exchanged Christmas cards.
Some 30 firefighters battled the blaze, which caused moderate damage to the house. In addition to the fire marshal, the Nassau County Police Department's Arson/Bomb Squad was also investigating.
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