Arson suspected in 4 vehicle fires in New Cassel, officials say
The Westbury Fire Department extinguishes a car fire in the driveway of a 6th Street home in New Cassel at about 1:50 a.m. Saturday. Credit: Paul Mazza
Four separate vehicle fires in New Cassel early Saturday morning are being investigated as possible arsons, a Westbury Fire Department official said.
Just before 2 a.m., Westbury firefighters responded to a report of a car burning in a driveway on Sixth Street, according to Westbury Fire Department Chief Tim Stewart. The fire spread to an adjacent house but was extinguished before significantly damaging the home, he said.
Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said, "There were additional fires on Prospect Avenue and Sherman Street."
Uttaro said a total of four cars and two homes were damaged. "These fires are considered suspicious and are currently under investigation through a joint effort with the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office and the Nassau County Police Department Arson Bomb Squad," Uttaro wrote in an email to Newsday.
Stewart said the subsequent fires occurred before 4:30 a.m. and "within about a quarter-mile radius" of the first.
"It looked like somebody tried to set the car in the driveway on fire," Stewart said about the first fire. "When we were operating at the scene, we also had another report of a fire on Prospect Avenue, which was a fire underneath a van. Then, about an hour later, we got a call saying there was another car on fire on Sherman Street."
"We had a ring of fires in a couple hourlong span," Stewart said, adding that the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office and police are "thinking it was all related to the same person."
It’s not clear what may have been used to start the fires, said Stewart, who added that whoever started the blaze was "long gone" before firefighters arrived.
With Janon Fisher
Four separate vehicle fires in New Cassel early Saturday morning are being investigated as possible arsons, a Westbury Fire Department official said.
Just before 2 a.m., Westbury firefighters responded to a report of a car burning in a driveway on Sixth Street, according to Westbury Fire Department Chief Tim Stewart. The fire spread to an adjacent house but was extinguished before significantly damaging the home, he said.
Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said, "There were additional fires on Prospect Avenue and Sherman Street."
Uttaro said a total of four cars and two homes were damaged. "These fires are considered suspicious and are currently under investigation through a joint effort with the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office and the Nassau County Police Department Arson Bomb Squad," Uttaro wrote in an email to Newsday.
Stewart said the subsequent fires occurred before 4:30 a.m. and "within about a quarter-mile radius" of the first.
"It looked like somebody tried to set the car in the driveway on fire," Stewart said about the first fire. "When we were operating at the scene, we also had another report of a fire on Prospect Avenue, which was a fire underneath a van. Then, about an hour later, we got a call saying there was another car on fire on Sherman Street."
"We had a ring of fires in a couple hourlong span," Stewart said, adding that the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office and police are "thinking it was all related to the same person."
It’s not clear what may have been used to start the fires, said Stewart, who added that whoever started the blaze was "long gone" before firefighters arrived.
With Janon Fisher
Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
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