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            Man set fire, stayed and died



            BY BART JONES AND ALFONSO CASTILLO
            STAFF WRITERS

            April 19, 2004


            An intoxicated Davis Park man died after he lit a rug on fire and 
            challenged his roommate to see who could stay in the house on Fire 
            Island longer Saturday night, Suffolk County police said.

            Police said Thomas Woods, 59, ignited the rug in his house at 9 
            Driftwood Walk sometime before 8 p.m. As the fire spread, Woods 
            fired one or two rounds from a pre-World War I Mauser pistol, said 
            Det. Sgt. Ed Fandrey of the Suffolk County homicide squad. Police do 
            not know why he fired the gun.

            When the fire began spreading dangerously, Woods' roommate, Rod 
            Bennett, ran to a neighbor's house to call 911 a few minutes after 8 
            p.m.

            Volunteers from the Davis Park Fire Department responded, along with 
            neighbors who tried to extinguish the blaze with garden hoses and 
            anything else they could find. But it was too late.

            "All of a sudden, flames shot up," said one neighbor, Nancy Buglino. 
            "The whole sky was lit up."

            A total of 75 firefighters from neighboring Fire Island departments 
            as well as Blue Point and Patchogue eventually responded, some 
            traveling across the Great South Bay by ferry. The fire was brought 
            under control in 40 minutes.

            Fandrey said there were no indications of foul play, and that no 
            arrests were made. "I don't expect we're going to be locking anybody 
            up," he said. "It looks like it's a tragedy."

            Bennett was handcuffed after the fire, he said, mainly because he 
            was combative and distraught. Bennett's story of what happened "is 
            so incredible," Fandrey said, that it's probably "credible."

            Fandrey said the two men were drinking heavily Saturday night when 
            Woods issued his dare: "Let's see which one of us leaves first."

            A volunteer Davis Park firefighter who is also a neighbor was the 
            first firefighter on the scene. He entered the house but could not 
            find Woods because of smoke, Fandrey said. Bennett followed him into 
            the house three times and had to be ejected.

            Apparently, Woods had fallen asleep on a couch in the living room, 
            and then tried to escape when he woke up, Fandrey said. Authorities 
            found his body near the house's entrance, on top of a pile of 
            plastic that had melted off the windows during the fire.

            "It looks like he tried to get out and couldn't," Fandrey said.

            "The fire was fully engulfed in the house already - flames through 
            the windows, coming out the roof," Chief Paul Young said. "There was 
            no chance of actually going in the house to do any type of search at 
            that point."

            The fatality stunned the community, where many part-time residents 
            had just arrived for the first time this year to open their houses.

            "It's a small community. We don't have many fires and for a death to 
            happen is virtually unheard of," said resident Doug King.

            Residents said Woods and Bennett were a rarity - just three houses 
            are inhabited year-round.

            Neighbors said Woods was a retired utility worker and a divorced 
            father. "Tom was just so quiet," Buglino said. "It's really sad . . 
            . I can't believe Tom was in the house." 
            Copyright (c) 2004, Newsday, Inc. |  Article licensing and reprint 
            options  


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