Three firefighters injured in blazes in Levittown, Woodbury and Brookville

Three firefighters were injured Sunday after crews battled three fires across Nassau County. 

The fires all broke out Sunday afternoon and left three firefighters with minor injuries, said Chief Fire Marshal Michael F. Uttaro. 

Authorities received a 911 call around 1:40 p.m. about a two-alarm house fire on Fruitledge Road in Brookville caused by a fireplace. Police said later the cause may have been a faulty chimney.

The home's occupants self-evacuated without injury, but an East Norwich Fire Department firefighter suffered a knee injury and was transported to a Glen Cove hospital for evaluation, Uttaro said. When firefighters arrived, flames were erupting through the home's roof. Police said later the fire caused "major structural damage" to the home.

A two-alarm fire on Holmes Street in Levittown left two Wantagh firefighters with minor injuries. Uttaro said dispatchers received multiple 911 calls around 2:20 p.m. about the single-family house fire, which took an hour to control. The firefighters were transported to Nassau University Medical Center and St. Joseph's Hospital and were released. Nassau County police said an explosion inside the garage injured one firefighter.

Wantagh Fire Department spokesman Kevin Regan said the incident commander withdrew firefighters after the explosion to fight the fire from outside until they were able to bring it under control. The cause of the fire remains undetermined, but Regan said it appears to have started in the basement and caused extensive damage. The fire is being investigated by the Nassau County Police arson/bomb squad and the county fire marshal. Eight additional departments responded to help Wantagh battle the blaze, Regan said.

Firefighters later responded to a four-alarm fire on Woodbury Road in Woodbury after receiving a call shortly before 2:35 p.m. Uttaro said 25 departments battled the blaze for two hours to get it under control. The mixed-use building has a florist on the first floor and apartments above, which were occupied. No one was injured, Uttaro said, adding that the fire was not suspicious, but the cause of the blaze remains unknown. 

Of Nassau's 71 volunteer fire departments, at least one-third were dispatched to battle Sunday's blazes, Uttaro said. 

"It was a stressful day," he said. "Thankfully ... the responses were quick for all three fires." 

By Brinley Hineman

brinley.hineman@newsday.com

Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.