Cats, dogs taken from fire-damaged Westbury home

About two dozen animals were evacuated from a Westbury home that caught fire Friday night, fire officials said.

The small fire started in the kitchen at 361 Madison St., possibly caused by something left on the stove, said James Hickman, supervisor of the fire investigations division of the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office.

The female homeowner, the only person in the house at the time, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow with nonlife-threatening injuries, Hickman said. Fire officials did not know the woman's name or age.

As first responders worked to contain the fire, they also evacuated about 20 cats and about four dogs, a spokesman for the Westbury Fire Department said. He added that Town of North Hempstead animal control officers were on scene to handle the animals.

"They have crates and crates of cats and a car full of dogs," Hickman said.

No further information about where the animals would be placed was immediately available. A spokesman for the Town of North Hempstead could not be reached for comment Friday night.