By KEITH GRANT
According to fire officials, a woman occupying the second-floor apartment at 5 New York Ave. reported that a candle fell over onto her bed Tuesday morning. Firefighters were called at 9:30 a.m. and responded within a minute, officials said, but found the fire already raging. Flames were shooting through the windows and a garden hose was found stretched into the apartment, apparently used in a failed attempt to put out the blaze.
"It looked like it was going for a while," said Long Beach Fire Chief Scott Kemins. He said several people went around knocking on doors to alert other residents of the building's 11 apartments.
Firefighters kept the blaze contained to the apartment and extinguished it in about 20 minutes, Kemins said. They remained at the scene for about an hour, making sure the fire had not spread anywhere within the walls.
The occupant, who was not identified, suffered some smoke inhalation and was taken to Long Beach Medical Center. Kemins said two firefighters were injured fighting the blaze. One was treated at Nassau University Medical Center for minor facial burns, and one had a shoulder injury treated at LBMC. Both were released on Tuesday.
There was extensive damage to the apartment, Kemins said, as well as some water damage a floor below, in Vito's. Part of its ceiling collapsed, but the restaurant was able to serve customers as soon as Tuesday night, during the evening's boardwalk concert on New York Avenue.
About 50 Long Beach firefighters responded to the scene, with assistance from the Island Park, Oceanside and Lido-Point Lookout fire departments.
Kemins speculated that it was unlikely the resident had renter's insurance, which he said he preaches to apartment renters in Long Beach.
"It's so cheap to have, it's minimal," he said. But not having it, he said, can be disastrous in the event of a fire, when even modest-living residents can lose thousands of dollars' worth of possessions that aren't covered by the landlord's insurance.
