Firefighter suffers 2nd-degree burns battling fire that destroyed Baldwin Harbor home

One firefighter suffered second-degree burns and two others developed heat exhaustion battling a late-morning blaze that officials said destroyed an unoccupied home in Baldwin Harbor on Tuesday.

Nassau County police said the fire at the home on Yale Place was reported in a 911 call around 11 a.m. Nassau County Assistant Chief Fire Marshal James Hickman said about 75 firefighters responded and 11 departments, led by the Baldwin Fire Department.

Hickman said the home was destroyed but no one was in the house at the time.

Tom Kirchner, a neighbor, said: "I heard something crackling over there and when I walked into the driveway that whole window just blew out... Five seconds that whole front porch was on fire. So I quick called 911."

Kirchner said he ran across the street and alerted the neighbor next door, worried the fire was going to jump to his house. "It was kinda windy and the flames were coming out really, really big and as we were standing there you kept hearing pop and pop, and we later found out there were oxygen tanks in there."

Kirchner said the home's resident, a retired firefighter, was not in the house because he had been staying with relatives due to a prior injury.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation but was not considered suspicious, Hickman said. There were explosions in the fire, most likely from oxygen canisters in the house, which could have contributed to the fire, he said.

The injured firefighter, whose name was not released, was transported to Nassau University Medical Center with second-degree burns to the back of his neck, Hickman said. He said the firefighter was being treated at the hospital burn unit and was expected to be released. 

The two other firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion. One was taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau and the other was treated at the scene.

With Cecilia Dowd

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”