פייער אין סקווער אויסגעפארשט
2 fires being probed
By SUZAN CLARKE
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 15, 2004)
Authorities yesterday were investigating separate fires on the same New Square street that damaged a vacant house and a parked Monsey Trails passenger bus.
Hillcrest Volunteer Fire Department members came across the bus fire around 12:45 a.m. yesterday as they were leaving the scene of the house fire, said Chris Kear, the department's assistant chief and spokesman.
Firefighters were called to a house fire at 1 Roosevelt Ave. at 9:55 p.m. Saturday. When they arrived, they found the single-story home engulfed in heavy smoke, Kear said.
The home had been unoccupied for about a year and a half, and had no gas or electrical service.
Firefighters who checked the perimeter of the house noticed that "the whole basement was on fire," Kear said.
About 38 firefighters went to the fire scene and put the blaze out in about one hour, Kear said.
The basement, first floor and some parts of the attic were seriously damaged, he added.
The blaze was labeled suspicious, Kear said.
The incident was being investigated by Ramapo town police and the Rockland County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Personnel from the Spring Valley Volunteer Fire Department also went to the fire.
One Hillcrest firefighter suffered a minor injury after being burned by a hot cinder, Ramapo police said. The firefighter was treated at the scene by members of the Spring Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Kear said.
As members of the Hillcrest department were leaving the home, they came across the bus at 12 Roosevelt Ave.
"They saw smoke coming from a bus which was parked next to a house and upon further investigation, they found fire" coming "from the front driver's seat of the bus," Kear said.
The bus had not been in driving condition and was being salvaged for parts for other buses before the incident, Sgt. Vincent T. Eichner of the Ramapo police said.
Citing the preservation of the investigation, Eichner declined to discuss the extent of the damage to the bus.
The two incidents did not appear to be linked, but were both being investigated, Eichner added.
No one had been arrested in connection with either incident, he said.
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