News

Valentine's Day blaze in Lynbrook

Scranton Avenue family displaced after attic fire

Posted

The Strife family was sitting down to a Valentine’s Day meal last Sunday in their home on Scranton Avenue in Lynbrook at around 5 p.m. when they heard a frantic pounding on their front door. “We had no idea what it was all about,” said Sean Strife. “But they said our house was on fire.”

Sean and his wife, RoseAnne, their sons, Thomas and Dylan, their daughter, Tori, and three family dogs were escorted out of the house by three off-duty firefighters — one from Lynbrook and two from Hewlett — who were in the area at the time and saw the smoke coming from the roof.

The firefighters, Lt. Chris Brower and William Brower of the Hewlett Fire Department, who happened to be stopped at a nearby traffic light on the busy street, jumped out of their vehicles, ran to the house and banged on the door. The Strifes were unaware that the top of their house was on fire.

Once they were evacuated, Lynbrook police officers and on-duty firefighters arrived, determining that the fire was contained to the attic. With flames shooting through the roof, they snaked hoses through the house, and used another to spray down the side of a neighboring house whose siding was melting in the extreme heat.

Soon the roof started to cave in, and firefighters were ordered out of the house. From the outside, a tower ladder directed water onto the roof and into the attic. Once most of the fire was out, firefighters moved back up into the attic and finished the job with a hose line. Six hoses were used in all.

The East Rockaway and Valley Stream fire departments provided mutual aid. There were no injuries reported. The fire was under investigation by the Nassau County fire marshal, but preliminary findings pointed to a crack in the chimney that goes up through the attic roof.

A family displaced

Community members offered their help to the Strifes, who are well known in Lynbrook and East Rockaway. Sean, 56, a Lynbrook native, was a Board of Education trustee for six years. RoseAnne is a hairdresser at After Shock on Main Street in East Rockaway. They have lived in the Scranton Avenue home for 30 years.

“No one was hurt in the fire,” Sean said. “That’s the important thing. And we have insurance, so we’ll be OK.” A public insurance adjuster himself, he said he “knew the drill.” “My boss was great,” he said. “He’s been helping us out.”

Page 1 / 2