RSS Feed
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Copiague firefighter saves woman and her daughter from burning building
Copiague firefighter Robert McGrath was the first to arrive at the scene and observed the mother, Marianne Popik, and her daughter Amber on the roof, said officials. The fire started in a deli on the first floor of the building at 840 Montauk Highway, Copiague. As it gained intensity, smoke rose through the open construction walls and seeped into the apartment on the second floor where Popik and her daughter lived. Unable to exit the building through the stairway, the two escaped through an open window on to the firstfloor roof. They went to an extreme corner there and waited for firefighters. When McGrath arrived moments later, he put a ladder up against the building and was able to climb to the first floor roof and get the women down safely. Both were taken to good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip where they were treated and released for smoke inhalation. Firefighters were also treated for smoke inhalation. One suffered an injury to his knee when he slipped on the ice at the scene, and another cut his hand on glass, according to a report by Copiague's Fire Chief Craig Stadelman. "By the time the firefighters had arrived the fire had burned in the concealed wall spaces and ceiling spaces of the building," said William Hayden, a Babylon Town Fire Marshal. "That made it more difficult to fight." The fire, which spread quickly, was reported at 7 p.m. The building houses the New Tanner Park Deli and Tan-N-Ice, a tanning salon next door, as well as the second floor apartment where the women lived. Conditions for firefighters became difficult also as the water from five-inch fire hoses poured over the building and then quickly turned to ice in the freezing night temperatures. A portion of the building also collapsed making not only fighting the fire more dangerous but finding its cause more difficult said fire officials from the Town of Babylon Fire Marshal's Office and Suffolk County Arson Squad. "We have gone through a lot of information already and have a lot more to go through before making a determination as to the cause of the fire said Lt. James Rooney of the Arson Squad. "Due to the collapse of the wall it was difficult to get in there."
A fire occurred in the deli last week, but was caught quickly by employees who were in the store at the time. That was attributed to an electrical problem, said Stadelman, and was not considered suspicious.
|
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
|||||||||||||||||
