Tuesday, February 3, 2015

4 PERSONS HURT, INCLUDING TEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED, IN HICKSVILLE HOUSE FIRE IN LONG ISLAND, NY



 4 PERSONS HURT, INCLUDING TEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED, IN HICKSVILLE HOUSE FIRE IN LONG ISLAND, NY

February 3, 2015

Four members of a Hicksville family were hospitalized Tuesday, including a teenage daughter with serious burns, after the father tried to put out an early morning fire in her bedroom, Hicksville fire officials said.

The family was away from the fire -- in the area of the kitchen and hallway -- when the first of about 70 firefighters from three departments arrived, said Third Assistant Fire Chief Liz Flahavan, who was in charge of the scene.
"The father was trying to put out the fire with pots of water," she said.

The Chestnut Street blaze started about 6 a.m. in the bedroom of the 15-year-old daughter, a 10th-grader at Hicksville High School, Flahavan said.
She was sitting in the hallway and suffering from second- and third-degree burns by the time rescuers arrived, Flahavan said.

Firefighters carried out the teenager and led the older sister and the parents from the house, she said. Two pet dogs who ran out were also found later by firefighters, she said.

The bedroom and part of the hallway were destroyed before the blaze was under control about 7:15 a.m., Flahavan said.

All four were taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, which has a burn treatment unit, the Hicksville assistant fire chief said.
The mother was being treated in a hyperbaric chamber there, officials said, while the older daughter was being treated for smoke inhalation.
The 15-year-old daughter was in critical but stable condition Tuesday afternoon, and her mother and sister were admitted, officials said.

The father was treated for smoke inhalation and released, officials said.
Nassau police and fire officials did not release the identities of the victims, citing the ongoing investigation.

A hospital spokeswoman said she did not immediately have authorization to discuss patient information.

Nassau Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Michael F. Uttaro said the cause was still under investigation and is officially "undetermined."

Police said detectives from the Arson/Bomb Squad also are investigating the cause.