Fire cuts power to Hempstead Town Hall; court proceedings moved to Mineola

An electrical fire at the Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead on Tuesday night forced the closure of the building Wednesday and limited power to Hempstead Town Hall.

State court officials said the court, at 99 Main St., would be closed Wednesday and all arraignments and hearings scheduled would be instead heard at Nassau County Court at 262 Old Country Rd. in Mineola.

Hempstead Town officials also canceled all Board of Zoning Appeals hearings Wednesday due to the fire, which caused a power outage to Hempstead Town Hall.

Town officials said Town Hall and the old courthouse at 350 Front St. would only be open for essential services Wednesday. They said town services at the offices would be suspended until power is restored.

All Board of Zoning Appeals hearings planned Wednesday will be rescheduled for a later date.

Nassau County fire marshals said the fire sparked at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and was believed to be caused by "an accidental electrical fire involving the failure of equipment" inside an underground PSEG Long Island "electrical vault."

There was no fire or smoke damage to the courthouse, but PSEG had to cut power to the building Tuesday night due to the failed equipment.

There were also power outages within the village of Hempstead. According to the PSEG's outage map, about 66 customers near Town Hall on Front Street were without electricity until sometime Wednesday afternoon. The map showed no outages in the village as of 3:30 p.m. 

Newsday’s Joshua Solomon and Nicholas Grasso contributed to this report.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.