By Hector Flores
Bed sheets, comforters, boxes and clothes were piled in his backyard, ready to be thrown away. Inside, on the second floor, the rooms of his two children ‹ John, 16, and Rhiannon, 13 ‹ were filled with ashes and exposed, burned wood. There was no roof ‹ only a blue tarp.
In John's room, remnants of sports magazines were scattered about, either burned or soaked. Joseph said that his son had a valuable sports memorabilia collection that was now lost. "He had Brooks Robinson's first rookie uniform when he played with the Orioles in 1958," he said. "All that memorabilia is gone and is junk now, but it can be replaced."
After surveying the damage to his home, Joseph was grateful that no one was at the house when the fire started. "I was at a Yankee game, my son was at his girlfriend's and my daughter at a friend's house," he said. "Had the fire started at 3 a.m., when everyone was home, it would have been a different story."
Last Saturday at 10:49 p.m., a power outlet sparked an electrical fire in John¹s room on the second floor, at the back of the house, and it quickly spread. It took the East Meadow Fire Department 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
John O'Brien, first assistant chief of the department, said that firefighters were at the scene within minutes. More than 80 firefighters and seven companies ‹ four engines, two ladders, three ambulances and a heavy rescue truck ‹ responded. "When we arrived, there were heavy fire conditions showing out the back windows of the second floor," O'Brien said. "An aggressive interior attack led by Chief Eric Becker confined the fire to the rooms of origin."
O'Brien added that although the fire was confined to the back rooms, there was extensive damage throughout the second floor from the intense heat.
Also responding were firefighters from Uniondale and Levittown, who sent an engine, a ladder and an ambulance. O'Brien explained that the extra units were not involved in the fire, but were used as standby in the event of another fire.
The North Bellmore Fire Department was also at the scene, providing East Meadow's firefighters with protection and cover. Walter Crevoiserat, first assistant chief of the North Bellmore department, said, "We basically provided a safety net for the firefighters. If anyone goes down, it¹s our job to go in and get them."
Two East Meadow firefighters were reported injured. One was treated for a neck injury suffered when the second-floor ceiling collapsed, and the second sustained an arm injury.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
