An elderly man was killed last week when a fire raged through his one-story Hicksville residence on Nov. 17. It was the first fatality due to fire in Hicksville since 1982.

According to Owen Magee, director of public information, Hicksville Fire Department, several volunteer firefighters were on the scene in a matter of minutes after a 911 call was made for a "house fire -people trapped." They were unable to enter the house due to the extreme heat and flames, however.

When fire equipment arrived, firefighters entered the house and found Anthony Graziano unconscious in an interior hallway. He was taken outside and then transported to Nassau County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

Police reports indicate the fire appears to have started in the living room and is termed non-suspicious as an investigation continues. Eighty Hicksville volunteer firefighters responded to the alarm. Two Hicksville firefighters, Pat Walker and John Doughty, were injured during the blaze, and were treated and later released from Nassau County Medical Center.

The death of Graziano in the fire, an 88-year old man living alone on Andover Lane, is the first in Hicksville in 18 years. Magee stated that when the Hicksville Fire Department was cited in 1997 by the National Fire Protection Association for its outstanding work in fire prevention and safety it was noted that no lives had been lost to fire in so many years.

Magee stated, deaths due to fire usually have one thing in common, no smoke detectors, which unfortunately means, no early warning. The Graziano residence reportedly had no fire alarms. He further stated, senior citizens living alone are most vulnerable to fire. Chief Philip LaNasa suggests that if you know a senior, to check up on them to see if they have one or more working smoke detectors.