Riverhead firefighters make quick stop of house fire, help residents safely evacuate

Riverhead firefighters made a quick stop of a house fire on Northville Turnpike Tuesday afternoon and helped two elderly residents safely evacuate their home.

The fire was called in by Riverhead Fire District Manager Frank Darrow, Chief Pete Kurzyna said in a phone interview. Darrow was out getting lunch and saw smoke coming from a house on Northville Turnpike north of Elton Street, the chief said. Darrow went to investigate and saw the back corner of the house on fire, reaching up to the attic, Kurzyna said. “He got on his radio and transmitted 13/35 working fire.”

Riverhead Fire District Commissioner Ed Carey was at home, not far from the scene. 

“I was monitoring the pager because Chief Kurzyna was out on an investigation of an automatic alarm,” Carey said in a phone interview Tuesday evening.

“All of a sudden, I hear someone yelling, ‘Working fire! Working fire!’ It was Frank Darrow. He says ‘Northville Turnpike’ and that perked up my ears because I live nearby. I went outside and saw smoke,” Carey said. 

“I headed over there. Frank had grabbed a garden hose and was trying to put the fire out,” Carey said.

“A Good Samaritan stopped and came into the front door with me,” he said.

Together they located two residents inside and helped them and their dog out of the house.Then they got the residents seated in chairs in their neighbor’s backyard.

“There was a lot of smoke,” Carey said. “Luckily it was on the outside.”

He said he was glad he was at home, not far away. 

But don’t call it a rescue, he said. “I wasn’t crawling on my belly in a house filled with smoke,” he said.  

“I didn’t do nothing anybody else wouldn’t have done,” Carey said.

“The guys made a hell of a stop,” Kurzyna said. “There was minor damage to the house and their property was saved. A quick response makes a difference,” the chief said.

The alarm came in at 12:26 p.m., he said. Riverhead Fire Department responded with two ladders, two engines, the fire police patrol truck and a rapid intervention team from Jamesport Fire Department. Wading River Fire Department stood by at Riverhead’s headquarters.

“The scene was turned over to the Riverhead Fire Marshal’s Office and Riverhead Police Department,” Kurzyna said.

Fire Marshal Andrew Smith said the cause of the fire is undetermined and is being investigated by the Suffolk County Police arson squad. No foul play is suspected, Smith said.