Cats rescued from Selden house fire, officials say

Three cats were rescued from a house fire in Selden late Tuesday and one of them, a white-and-black domestic longhair, is being treated at an emergency shelter after sustaining smoke inhalation and being revived at the scene, officials said.

The fire at the home on Magnolia Drive was reported in a 911 call at 10:33 p.m., Suffolk County police said.

Suffolk fire officials said firefighters from Selden responded to the scene, with mutual aid coming from firefighters from Coram, Gordon Heights and Farmingville, and found that all residents had managed to escape the home, a single-story residence. The fire is believed to have started in the basement, officials said.

Officials also said the homeowners indicated they had cats still trapped inside the house.

Three cats were rescued, officials said. It was not immediately clear if the trio were all the animals inside the home, or whether there were others. A photo from the scene showed a firefighter carrying the cat later taken to a shelter, Animal Emergency Services of Selden, that cat having been resuscitated at the scene, officials said.

A spokeswoman at the shelter, veterinary technician Kaitlyn Carrara, said the cat arrived with its coat covered in soot and said the animal, whose name she did not know, had smoke inhalation. The cat was immediately put on oxygen she said, adding that the cat’s condition had stabilized.

She cautioned that the animal still faced an uphill battle because of the seriousness of the smoke damage.

“Right now, he is stable,” she said.

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.”