Man hospitalized after being pulled out of burning Nesconset house

Multiple departments responded to a Nesconset house fire that occurred while its sole occupant was inside Monday evening.

Thomas McClafferty, 66, said he was in his upstairs bedroom that overlooks his next door neighbor’s Highland Place home when he smelled smoke Monday evening. Upon looking out his bedroom window at approximately 5:30 p.m., he noticed flames emitting from the back of his neighbor’s house and immediately dialed 911.

“The flames were reaching over the roof,” McClafferty recalled. “They were out the back windows … His roof gable, it was billowing smoke. It was thick black smoke.”

While on the phone with a dispatcher, McClafferty said he heard a “bang.” He said the dispatcher also heard the noise and asked if that was an explosion, to which he replied “yes.”

“When she heard the explosion, she said ‘I’m going to call more than one township.’” he added.

The fire started in an upstairs “family room” space and took firefighters approximately 15 minutes to extinguish its blaze, Nesconset Fire Department 1st Assistant Chief Chris Zarnitz said Monday evening. He said a man rescued from the home was alive when he arrived at Stony Brook University Hospital via ambulance.

“We were actually at another call just prior to that,” Zarnitz added, referring to a brush fire crews quelled about three blocks away. “We were actually on the scene within minutes, and they were able to get inside the building … and extract the victim out of the house.”

Zarnitz said the cause of the fire, as well as what caused the explosive sound neighbors heard, was still under investigation by the Smithtown fire marshal at about 8:15 p.m.

Several dozen volunteers from multiple agencies, including the Nesconset, Lakeland and Ronkonkoma fire departments were packing up to leave the scene at approximately 6:45 p.m.

McClafferty said he saw his neighbor brought out of the home by first responders on a stretcher.

“They were working on him,” he said.

At 7:15 p.m. Monday, Smithtown fire marshals and Suffolk police officers remained on the scene while neighbor Tony Benz, 44, watched. He described the man he saw taken from the burning home around 90 minutes prior as “a good neighbor” who was recently facing health issues.

“He’s a good guy, he’s always there to help,” Benz said. “His mother had come to take care of him the last couple of months.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.