By Michael Frazier
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
Two suspicious fires early yesterday at a Hicksville deli and a Baldwin home are under investigation, while another apparently accidental blaze caused at least $50,000 in damage to the East Meadow Fire Department headquarters, authorities said.
No one was injured in the fires that began between 3 and 4:30 a.m.
The first blaze broke out about 3 a.m. outside Trinity Deli at 1 West Village Green in Hicksville, police said. The deli is attached to several other businesses, and police said that flames spread to Good Taste Chinese Kitchen.
“I’m in shock,” said Donna Riggs, who has co-owned the deli with her brother Bill since 2004. “I worked here for 18 years before I bought the store. That’s my heart and soul right there.”
Riggs said investigators told her the fire started in the rear of the building when a pile of flattened cardboard boxes was set ablaze.
Fire officials didn’t release the exact cause of the fire, saying only that it was deemed suspicious. Most of the damage was in the rear of the business, Riggs said, adding she didn’t know when the deli would re-open.
No one could be reached yesterday at the Chinese restaurant and the extent of the damage there was unclear.
The second suspicious fire was reported about 3:50 a.m. when someone set fire to two automobiles parked in a driveway of a home in the 700 block of Lincoln Street in Baldwin. The fire, which is being investigated by the Nassau Police Department’s Arson / Bomb Squad, destroyed the vehicles and caused extensive damage to the home when the flames spread, police said.
No one at the home could be reached for comment.
At 4:30 a.m., the third reported fire started in the 20-foot by 40-foot bay area of the East Meadow Fire Department, where ambulances and other department vehicles were kept. The blaze caused at least $50,000 in damage at the headquarters at 197 East Meadow Ave., Fire Chief Christopher Sala said.
While the exact cause is still being investigated, the fire was not deemed suspicious, said Vincent McManus, division supervisor of the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office.
A dispatcher at the headquarters alerted volunteers about the fire, which was contained to the bay area by a firewall and was extinguished in about 30 minutes by about 100 responding firefighters from East Meadow, North Bellmore and Uniondale, Sala said.
Emergency medical personnel and the department vehicles were relocated because of the fire, but day-to-day operations will remain normal, Sala said.