Cops: Two dead after New Hyde Park house fire

Two people inside a New Hyde Park home when it caught fire early Sunday have died, Nassau County police said.

A 4-year-old girl and a 68-year-old woman were pulled from the home on North 12th Street after the fire was reported shortly after 3 a.m., authorities said. A 10-year-old boy escaped the blaze by jumping out of a window and landing on a car below, said New Hyde Park Fire Department Chief Brian Sherwood.

The woman and the girl were taken to a hospital and listed in serious condition. The 10-year-old boy was also hospitalized and listed in stable condition. The victims suffered smoke inhalation and burns of varying degrees, police said.

In a news release late Sunday night, Nassau police said two people in the house died but the identities of the deceased were not released.

“Upon arrival, the two-story private dwelling was literally engulfed in flames,” Sherwood said. “It was a pretty heavy fire.”

Two other occupants of the home were uninjured, Nassau police said. One resident who had escaped the home told firefighters that two family members were still inside. Firefighters then entered a second-story bedroom using a ladder and found the woman and the girl.

“The firefighters went in to do a search and they found the two family members unconscious,” Sherwood said, adding that firefighters carried the victims outside.

Sherwood said a Polish-speaking department volunteer communicated with the family during the incident.

More than 200 firefighters from seven departments responded and put out the fire in about an hour, Sherwood said.

The fire was not suspicious, but is still under investigation, police said.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.