UPDATE: Fire Started in Ersatz Attic of Mobile Home

Hillcrest Fire Department responded to a mobile home fire in Pomona. The fire, in the Mount Ivy section of town, left two families homeless.

Called in just after 8:30 a.m. Nov. 24, the blaze was centered in an attic-like area. Hillcrest responded with 35 firefighters and 7 fire trucks. Chief Scott Hankinson was the incident commander. Thiells FD was called to the scene, said  Chris Kear, former chief and a spokesman for Hillcrest Volunteer Fire Co. #1. The fire broke through the attic and damaged three rooms.

The mobile home at 33 Old Route 202A had no smoke detectors, he said. The attic area was apparently a storage area added above the flat roof of the mobile home. Firefighters had a difficult time at first getting at the fire through the mobile home's original roof. 

The mobile home had other additions including two bedrooms. The Towns of Haverstraw and Ramapo are investigating the additions. Several electrical issues were also observed such as a power feed running under the mobile homes next door, around the back of this mobile home, along a rear retaining wall and through the side wall into the home, Kear said.

The fire is being investigated by the Rockland County Sheriffs Fire Investigative Unit. 

The Red Cross told the Nyack Free Press that volunteers were helping the families with emergency assistance.