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Levittown Fire Kills Elderly Woman, Cops Say

An early morning fire in Levittown that killed an elderly woman Tuesday was sparked by an unattended candle in the basement, Nassau County fire investigators said.

The blaze erupted shortly after 4 a.m., officials said, and eventually consumed the entire house.

The woman was not immediately identified.

James Hickman, a Nassau County Fire Marshal investigator, said the woman was at home with her son when the lit candle sparked a fire that ripped through the house.

“The son was able to make it out,” Hickman said. “He tried to make an attempt to save his mother but was unable to.”

The son was impeded by flames and smoke, Hickman said.

Nearly a half-dozen area fire departments responded to the fire on Wadsworth Avenue, said Donald Eppel, chief of the Levittown Fire Department.

Firefighters arrived to a fully engulfed house, Eppel said.

When firefighters eventually entered the home, the woman had already died, officials said.

It took nearly two hours to extinguish the blaze, officials said.

Hickman said the fire marshal’s investigation has concluded.