By STUART KLATZ and KEITH GRANT
The old saying, "Home is where the heart is" may no longer have much credibility among these folks.
"The Red Cross is putting us up at the Long Beach Motor Inn tonight," said Daisy Hunter, who was one of 28 Pine Street residents left at least temporarily homeless by Monday's fire. "Then I'll be staying with a family member."
Hunter's best friend is Selina Bryant. Bryant was down the block about 6 p.m. Monday when she saw smoke. She came and got Hunter, who left her home so quickly that she didn't even have time to put on shoes. Bryant will also be staying with a relative.
The blaze moved quickly, totaling four apartments in the Pine Townhouses on the 100 block of East Pine. Four more apartments in the two-story complex suffered heavy damage. Long Beach fire chief Scott Kemins was in his car, waiting for the light just blocks away at Long Beach Boulevard and Park Avenue, when the call came in. It took him barely a minute to get to the scene, where he found the ground level already fully engulfed and the fire spreading fast to the second floor. Flames were even stretching out onto a tree out front.
Some of the 125 firefighters who responded to the scene began by battling the blaze inside the homes, and were making good progress, Kemins said. But the type of "truss" construction of the apartments, the chief said, was failing fast, and firefighters had to pull out before a potential collapse. They took on the flames for another 30 minutes from the street and neighboring rooftops before the fire was extinguished.
By then, five people were being rushed to hospitals, including three firefighters. Two of the firefighters suffered second-degree burns -- one to the hands and one to the neck. Both men were treated at Nassau University Medical Center's Burn Unit, while a third firefighter was treated for a broken wrist.
Meanwhile, two residents were seemingly so overcome by the sight of their homes in flames that they fainted. They were found unconscious in front of the building by arriving firefighters, who transported them both to Long Beach Medical Center, Kemins said.
In all, six departments came to Long Beach's aid, while three more stood by to assist elsewhere.
For the former residents, though, there wasn't much left to be salvaged a day after the fire. "I'm just trying to take things one day at a time," explained Alberto Andujar, who lost his home but saw to it that his 80-year-old mother escaped the fire.
All around the 100 block section of Pine Street, the theme was the same. A night or two at accommodations provided by the Red Cross, then plans to stay with family until a more permanent solution is found. The fire is believed to have been an accident, but its cause is being investigated by the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office as well as the county bomb squad.
On this day after, the clear blue sky over Pine Street contrasted sharply with the unsettled future facing those uprooted by the blaze. While residents held on to hope that some of the apartments might eventually be repaired, there was also resignation that, for most, the word "home" will take on a whole new meaning.
