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WESTWOOD FIRE KILLS MAN, 93
Bergen Record
By ELLIOT PINSLEY
Date: 11-24-1992, Tuesday
A 93-year-old Westwood man died Monday when fire swept through the second
floor of his two-story home.
Batiste Nicolini, of 51
Prospect Ave., was pronounced dead at Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood.
Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said his office is awaiting results
of an autopsy, but the preliminary indication is that Nicolini died from
smoke inhalation. "There were not a lot of burns on the body," he said.
The fire apparently started in the second-floor bedroom, said Fahy, adding
that Nicolini was a pipe smoker. His body was found in the bathroom.
Nicolini's sister, Dora, who also lived in the house, was not home when
the fire broke out shortly after 4 p.m. William Quinn, a spokesman for the
Westwood Volunteer Fire Department, said police saw the fire and called it
in to the fire station. The first engine arrived within three minutes,
Quinn said.
Twenty-six Westwood firefighters were joined by fire companies from
Emerson and River Vale in battling the blaze, which gutted the entire
second story of the wood-frame house. The first floor received water
damage. The fire was brought under control within 45 minutes, Quinn said.
Three firefighters were taken to Pascack Valley Hospital -- two suffering
from smoke inhalation, one with a head injury, he said. They were treated
and released.
The matter was referred to the Bergen County Arson Squad for
investigation, a routine procedure in the event of a serious fire, Quinn
said.
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