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.