By Andrew Hackmack
The call came in about a house fire at 166 Morris Parkway shortly before 8 p.m., and three Valley Stream firefighters were there within minutes. The couple were trapped in a second-floor bathroom and calling out a window for help. Kenneth McHugh, William Kirkham and Edward Donoghue were the first to arrive and helped pull the couple to safety.
A ladder was borrowed from the truck of a passerby and was being raised to the window just as Donoghue arrived. He climbed up, grabbed the woman and passed her to McHugh, who brought her safely to the ground. Donoghue then pulled the man to safety, passing him down to others who had come to help.
Throughout the rescue, Kirkham steadied the ladder. Donoghue noted that several neighbors also came out to help.
Commander of Operations Eugene O'Brien II, the captain of Ladder Truck 345, said the efforts of the early-arriving firefighters helped save two lives. He noted that the fire blocked the home's staircase, which prevented the couple from getting out on their own. "They were definitely trapped," O'Brien said.
Donoghue said that by the time he arrived, the fire was burning strongly and smoke was beginning to engulf the house. After making sure the couple was OK and that no one else was trapped, he saw that the first engine was just pulling up, so he and McHugh went to work fighting the fire. Donoghue is a Nassau County ambulance medical technician and McHugh is a Suffolk County police officer.
"For everyone involved," Donoghue said, "it was the right place at the right time." A house can always be rebuilt, he added, and getting everyone out safely is what truly matters.
It took about 100 firefighters 40 minutes to bring the fire under control. The Elmont, Lynbrook, Hewlett, Woodmere, Malverne and Lawrence-Cedarhurst departments provided mutual aid. O'Brien said that firefighters remained on the scene until almost 1 a.m. to ensure that the fire was completely extinguished.
There was fire on every floor of the two-story house, from the basement to the attic, as well as on the outside, O'Brien said, which made it difficult to fight. He said the damage was extensive, but the fire was confined to just one side of the house. A kitchen, office, bedroom and part of the basement were gutted. "The guys actually made a really good stop," he said.
Crews were constantly rotated, O'Brien said, and the Ladies Auxiliary provided refreshments for the firefighters. "The heat was more of an issue than anything else," he said.
O'Brien said the fire marshal had not yet determined the cause or the point of origin of the fire. It is unknown whether the blaze started inside or outside, he said, but it is not considered suspicious.
The displaced couple was able to stay with a family member that night, O'Brien said.
It was the Valley Stream Fire Department's second structural fire of the day. Early that morning, firefighters were called out to a home at 64 Cambridge St., where they confined fire damage to the basement.
Comments about this story? AHackmack@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
