By KEITH GRANT
Robert Westborg, 46, and his girlfriend were asleep in Mr. Westborg's house at 435 W. Chester St., when the blaze broke out around 3 A.M. Saturday. The woman escaped the house unharmed and awakened neighbors with screams for help when she realized Mr. Westborg was still inside.
Daniel Fraser, 26, a full-time Long Beach firefighter, jumped from his bedroom window and began a desperate attempt to rescue Mr. Westborg. Mr. Fraser broke through his neighbor's back door, but could not see through the thick smoke quickly filling the home.
"There wasn't much visibility at all," Mr. Fraser said. "But the layout is pretty much the same as my house, so I knew room-wise what was what."
Mr. Fraser checked several rooms but found no signs of Mr. Westborg. With flames quickly spreading across walls and down the hall from the living room, the firefighter was forced back out of the house. He then raced around to the front, knocking in the front door and yelling for his neighbor.
"I had no idea where he was, but I just kept yelling to him," Mr. Fraser said.
By then, firefighters had arrived and were about to enter through the front when Mr. Westborg came barreling out past them, dropping to his knees on the lawn. He was given oxygen and quickly taken to the burn unit at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. As of Tuesday, Mr. Westborg remained in critical but stable condition with second- and third-degree burns over nearly 25 percent of his body, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Firefighter Fraser said Mr. Westborg was likely protected from the smoke by his bedroom door. When he opened the door to escape, though, the flames shot toward him.
The county fire marshal's office determined the fire was caused by electrical problems, starting near a surge protector. Brian Hocheiser, Long Beach fire chief, said Mr. Westborg, a contractor, had a home office in the front living room where the fire started.
With Mr. Westborg being treated, Lt. Jay Gusler and firefighter Sean Powers led firefighters into the house to extinguish the blaze. Fire damage, Chief Hocheiser said, was limited to the front living area and several windows that were broken to vent the smoke. While crews were on the scene for more than two hours, the fire was a fairly quick one to extinguish, the chief said.
