Crime & Safety

Six Fire Departments Battle Blaze at Smithtown Home

Occupants escape house before firefighters arrive on scene Monday afternoon.

A half dozen fire departments responded to a blaze at a Smithtown home Monday afternoon that is believed to have started in a basement dryer. 

Michael Landrigan, a Smithtown Fire Department assistant chief, was the first one on the scene of the fire on Sheila Drive around 2:30 p.m. The two people inside the home–a mother and her child–at the time of the fire were on the front lawn when Landrigan arrived. 

The woman told Landrigan the fire was in the basement. 

"I went downstairs to see what I could do, but the fire and smoke were too hot for me to do anything," Landrigan said. 

Smithtown firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control in about 20 minutes, Landrigan said. Several other departments–Hauppauge, St. James, Nesconset, Kings Park and Ronkonkoma–also were called to the scene to lend a hand. 

There were two cats in the home when the fire started. One of them was pulled out alive, Landrigan said, but the status of the other cat is unclear at this time. 




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