Island Park responds to electrical house fire

The Island Park Fire Department was called to 79 Lorraine Road July 29 at 11:24 a.m. for an electrical fire on the side of the house according to Fire Chief Michael Whalen. “We were on scene at 11:30 a.m. with 25 members, two engines, two ambulances. We called Long Beach Fire Department for a long ladder and additional help. The fire was under control in 10 to 15 minutes with minor damage to the boiler room. The cause was undetermined and under investigation. The house was unoccupied.

They lost their neutral (electric) power lines,” Whelan explained “Causing power to be fed throughout the house from 110 volts to 220 volts, then out of the house into the ground.”

The house appeared to be a rental, with no one living on the first floor and no one home on the second floor. Firemen broke open the door to the first floor for access to the basement.

Next-door neighbor Victor Sherred said he had turned on his new air conditioner and went to make coffee just as the lights started to flicker and he heard loud booms. “I was thinking with the rain last night maybe water was in the air conditioner, he said, “So I turned it off, then I turned it back on, and I heard a loud racket, and I could have sworn I saw a silver flash. I saw the wall was black. Just as I went to call the fire department the cops came.”

The electric company was on the scene later that day investigating and repairing.