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Long Beach firefighters battle high-rise blaze during blizzard

Woman injured, two cats die in Shore Road building fire

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Long Beach firefighters and police rushed to the scene of a high-rise fire on Shore Road early Saturday morning as a blizzard pummeled the East Coast.

Fire officials said the fire was reported seconds after midnight at 210 Shore Road. When police arrived to the scene, officers observed heavy smoke pumping throughout the building. Nearly 50 Long Beach firefighters responded, with assistance from the Point Lookout-Lido, Island Park, Lawrence-Cedarhurst, Oceanside, Atlantic Beach Rescue, Baldwin, Inwood, East Rockaway, and Rockville Centre fire departments.

Tenants were immediately evacuated from the building and firefighters were alerted to a visible fire in the back of the building, on the third floor. Fire crews immediately began firefighting operations, the Fire Department said on its Facebook page, and were able to contain the blaze to one apartment and prevented it from spreading. Two apartments below sustained water damage.

Firefighters continued to evacuate apartments as crews battled the fire, and vent the building from heavy smoke conditions as others checked for any additional pockets of fire.

"One female was treated at the scene for minor burn injuries and two cats were rescued from the apartment but unfortunately succumbed to smoke inhalation," the department said Facebook. "A female occupant in the apartment was treated by our paramedics for minor burns, but refused to go to the hospital."

Fire officials attributed the cause of the blaze to a gas can that was located in the kitchen; it was giving off fumes that were ignited by the stove's pilot light.

No other injuries were reported and the Nassau County Fire Marshal, Long Beach Police Department and the Nassau County Police Department's Arson Bomb Squad determined that the fire was accidental. All Fire Department operations were under the command of Fire Chief RJ Tuccillo.

"Thank-you to all mutual aid departments who assisted with firefighting operations and stood by in our district. Great job to all as we operated under blizzard-like conditions," the department said in a statement. "All members did an amazing job under extreme blizzard conditions."