93 Year Old Woman Killed in East Northport House Fire

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad and Arson Squad detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding a house fire that killed an East Northport woman On Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 9:25 p.m.

Second Precinct officers responded to a 911 call in which the caller reported a fire at a home located at 55 Grover Lane at approximately 9:25 p.m.  East Northport Fire Department First Assistant Chief Daniel Heffernan, who lives nearby, arrived at the scene within two minutes.  Heffernan and Chief Joseph Ervin, also of the East Northport Fire Department, entered the home that was still on fire and full of heavy smoke.  They located the victim, Alice Woods, 93, on the second floor of the home near the doorway of her rear bedroom.

The Commack Fire Department assisted at the scene with a Rapid Intervention Team, while the Northport Fire Department and Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps provided standby coverage. Fifty firefighters operated at the scene with six trucks, and two ambulances for EMS support, under the command of Chief Joe Ervin, First Assistant Chief Wayne Kaifler, Jr., and Second Assistant Chief Dan Heffernan.

Woods, who was the only resident of the home, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.

Detectives believe the fire began in the victim’s bedroom.  The cause of the fire is under investigation but it does not appear to be criminal in nature.

Photos by Steve Silverman