Lynbrook Firefighter Injured in Bixley Heath Blaze

A Lynbrook firefighter was injured while a second firefighter nearly fell through the burning floor of a house at 104 Bixley Heath while fighting a blaze early Saturday morning in Lynbrook.

The injured firefighter suffered a laceration through his gloved hand and was transported to South Nassau Hospital, while the family in the home escaped unharmed, firefighters said.

The blaze engulfed the basement ceiling of the home and spread up and into the first floor at 3:01 a.m. Saturday. A quick attack by Lynbrook firefighters brought the fire under control in about 30 minutes, but firefighters were at the scene for three hours, according to ex-captain Steve Grogan.

Firefighters first extinguished the fire in the staircase they moved down into the burning basement. The fire was burning along the ceiling rafters and extended from one end to the other. Although firefighters had a difficult time moving the hose line around due to the limited space and debris in the basement, the fire was eventually brought under control, Grogan said.

Grogan added that a tragedy almost struck when a firefighter slowly walking and feeling his way in the dark from the kitchen into the dining room felt the floor give way under his feet and immediately backed up before it collapsed under his weight. As the firefighter stepped back into the kitchen, the flame came up through the sinking floor.

"Had the firefighter continued walking he would have fallen into the fire below," Grogan said.

Firefighters were able to get into the first floor dining room through the front living room and extinguish the spreading fire in the wall before it moved up to the second floor. Truck Company members assisted the firefighters on the hose lines by taking out the closed windows to vent the extreme heat and smoke.

Valley Stream, Rockville Centre, East Rockaway and Lakeview all sent aid to the scene.

Lynbrook Fire Chief Michael Hynes commended the efforts of the volunteers.

"Their quick attack of the fast-spreading fire in the basement saved the house," Hynes said, adding that had the wife not awoken to the sound of "popping" downstairs, they would have "never survived the intense fire engulfing their home."

Hynes requested the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire. An investigator determined that the fire was most likely caused by an electric short possibly from a faulty extension cord in the basement. Fire damaged was placed at approximately $250,000.

Grogan said that the house next door to 104 Bixley Heath is believed to be the house where five members of the Levy family perished in a similar early morning fire 44 years ago.