Double house fire displaces 10 people in Hempstead
A quick-thinking neighbor alerted residents and tried to fight the flames before a fire spread to a second home, officials said.
Multiple people were displaced after a fire spread between two homes on Duryea Place in Hempstead on Wednesday evening around 5:30 p.m. All residents escaped safely, thanks in part to the actions of nearby neighbors.
Andre Baxter said he was arriving home when he first noticed the fire. He said his immediate focus was helping his neighbors get out safely.
“I was just coming home... and I heard the pop and seen the fire blow up in the yard,” Baxter said. “I'm the one who called. I just came screaming around the corner and banging on the doors. And I went in the neighbor's yard and grabbed his water hose and started spraying it on the house.”
Although he said the fire grew too quickly for the hose to stop it, his actions may have helped save lives.
Elvira Brown, who lives in one of the homes, said her son-in-law first noticed the fire while cooking in the kitchen.
According to fire officials, the fire began in the back of the house and became so large that it spread to a neighboring home. The fire department called for additional assistance to battle both house fires simultaneously. Officials said it took approximately 100 firefighters about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control. Both homes were left uninhabitable.
“I know it's going to be a mess in there, because I left everything in there. Cell phone, everything. We lost a lot of stuff up in that house,” Brown said.
Officials said 10 people were displaced by the fire, including five adults and two children from the first home and three adults from the second home.
No residents were injured, according to officials. However, two firefighters were hurt while battling the blaze, and one was transported to a hospital with a head injury.
The cause of the fire has not been released.
