State Police: Trooper rescues cat from burning Wantagh home

As a fire raged Thursday along the back of a Wantagh home, a state trooper broke in through the front door, conducted a search and determined no one was home — until he spotted a litter box, the State Police said.

“Then he saw the cat, he grabbed the cat and they got out of the house,” said Trooper Frank Bandiero, a State Police spokesman.

As a precaution due to the heavy smoke, Trooper Michael Kraus was checked out at St Joseph’s Hospital in Bethpage and later released, Bandiero said.

Kraus had noticed what appeared to be a house fire while assisting another trooper with a traffic stop on the Wantagh State Parkway, south of the Southern State Parkway.

So, “he drove off the parkway and found it,” Bandiero said.

A neighbor took in the black cat, temporarily, until the homeowners return.

Fire officials were not immediately available to say how much the blaze damaged the house.

Nassau police said the fire was reported to 911 at 12:28 p.m.