2 firefighters suffer minor injuries in Wading River house blaze

Two firefighters who suffered minor injuries when part of a home's second floor collapsed during a Wading River house fire went to a hospital for treatment, officials said.

Separately, a blaze in Floral Park sent one building occupant to the hospital for treatment of minor smoke inhalation, authorities said.

The Wading River Fire Department responded to calls of a fire at a two-story home on 19th Street near the intersection of Hulse Landing Road around 11:30 a.m., according to the department's Third Assistant Chief Denise Gluck. 

The two firefighters still are being evaluated, according to the chief, who said those first responders were part of mutual aid companies that came to the scene.

Gluck said around 60 firefighters from 13 departments arrived at the scene to extinguish the fire within 30 minutes.

Upon her arrival, the front and left sides of the house were fully engulfed in flames, the chief said.

At least one occupant of the home fled the structure without assistance and there were no civilian injuries, Gluck said. 

The scene was turned over to Brookhaven and Riverhead town fire marshals, as well as Suffolk County Police Department arson squad detectives for investigation, Gluck said around 2 p.m. Wednesday. Members of the American Red Cross were also at the scene.

The cause of the blaze is currently unknown, officials said.

The remnants of outdoor chairs stood upon the home’s blackened porch Wednesday afternoon as officials remained at the scene for the investigation into the fire's cause.

A large portion of the collapsed second-story floor was visible just beyond the porch. A second-story window on the home's blackened left side was broken. Much of a white plastic fence connecting the home with a neighboring house had melted.

Russell Donovan, who lives at the other end of 19th Street, said he saw the early stages of the blaze and a large plume of smoke fill the air.

"Once the fire on the porch got to the roof, that wind just took it through the house," said Donovan, 36. "It was literally from the front of the house to the back of the house in like three minutes."

Donovan and several other neighbors came to the scene to offer assistance to the home's occupants.

"It's a shame," said Joe Tilton, who lives two doors away from the burned home. "But it's amazing how many people were here, people I've never even seen before ... It's nice to know if somebody's in a crisis that people are around to help."

In the Floral Park incident, about 100 firefighters from 11 departments in Nassau County battled a blaze that seriously damaged a mixed-use building on Plainfield Avenue, according to a news release from Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro.

A fire in one of the building's apartments was reported around 2:16 p.m. and was under control in about 45 minutes, officials said.

The building occupant who suffered minor smoke inhalation was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola for treatment, Uttaro said. Another injured civilian refused medical attention at the scene.

The cause of that fire remains under investigation, according to Uttaro. Authorities said the Village of Floral Park Building Department was evaluating damage to the structure and members of the American Red Cross were providing immediate relief to residents.