A house fire in Polish Town sent two adults and an infant to area hospitals Thursday.
Riverhead Fire Department Chief Pete Kurzyna was first at the scene for the 2:09 p.m. call. and found an active fire in the two-story frame dwelling on the corner of Sweezy Avenue and Lincoln Street.
Residents were leaving the house under heavy smoke conditions, Kurzyna said. The fire had started in the back of the home and spread rapidly due to the home’s “old-style construction,” the chief said. He quickly ordered the fire department’s dispatcher to tone out a working structure fire and also call Flanders and Jamesport for mutual aid to the scene. He then requested assistance from Eastport, Westhampton and Wading River. Altogether there were three ladder trucks and five engines summoned to extinguish the fire. Riverhead fire police patrol also responded. About 50 firefighters answered the alarm, he said.
Kurzyna said the patients were brought to Stony Brook University Hospital and Peconic Bay Medical Center to be checked for injuries from smoke inhalation. “Unfortunately, a resident’s cat perished in the fire,” likely from smoke inhalation, Kurzyna said. A pet dog escaped from the home uninjured.
Firefighters did a great job k nocking down the fire and preventing it from spreading to the house next door, Kurzyna said.
Kurzyna declared the fire under control at 2:54 p.m.
The Riverhead Town Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating, Kurzyna said.
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