North New Hyde Park fire damages trucks, hurts firefighter, cops say

Four trucks were damaged and a firefighter was hospitalized with a broken ankle following an early morning blaze Monday at a storage lot in North New Hyde Park, Nassau County police said.

The firefighter, from the Garden City Park Fire Department, was transported to Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola for treatment, police said.

Police said the fire on South Denton Avenue was reported in a 911 call at 4:36 a.m.

The four trucks all were tractor-trailers, police said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but police said it is under investigation by Arson Squad detectives and the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”