Seaford woman saves her mom, kids from fire

A quick-thinking Seaford mother took no chances when she realized her home was on fire early Wednesday and got her mother and three children safely out of the house just before it went up in flames, authorities said.

Hours later, Patricia Benedetto, 37, stood outside her home on Seminole Avenue and stared in disbelief at the charred remains and what was left of Halloween decorations on her front lawn. Benedetto said she was too upset to talk about how she managed to save her family.

Officials with the Nassau County fire marshal's office and Nassau police said the fire's cause is unknown but not suspicious.

Her mother, Patricia Dooley, 69, and her children, two girls, 7 and 3, and a boy, 4, all escaped injury.

The fire was reported in a 911 call at 3:32 a.m. Wednesday, Nassau County police said.

About 75 Wantagh firefighters battled the blaze for about an hour and half before they got it under control, said Wantagh Fire Chief Jeff Lindgren.

"It could have been a lot worse," Lindgren said. "It was very heroic what she did."

Lindgren said Benedetto and her family were already out of the two-story ranch when responders arrived.

"She was upset. There were some pets that didn't make it," Lindgren said. "She was also in shock of seeing her house on fire. It's enough to make anybody crazy. I told her, 'You're a hero.' "

By the time firefighters arrived, he said, the second floor of the house was already fully engulfed. The house and two boats moored at a dock on the canal behind the home were destroyed, Lindgren said.

A neighbor, Bertha Siegler, 73, said her husband woke her when he saw the flames.

"You couldn't go near anything," she said of the intensity of the fire, which partially melted the vinyl siding on her home -- as well as that on the home of another neighbor. "I'm just glad everybody got out."

Relatives who arrived to show support for Benedetto called it "a miracle" that everyone made it out. By afternoon, contractors had cordoned off the charred remains of the home and began demolishing what was left.

With John Valenti