State Police: Trooper rescues cat from burning Wantagh home
A cat rescued from a house fire Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016, by a state trooper is put into the arms of the homeowner. The trooper discovered the fire in the house on Waterbury Drive in Wantagh. Credit: Lou Minutoli
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.
As a fire raged Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, 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 kitty litter box, the State Police said. Credit: John Scalesi
Nassau police said the fire was reported to 911 at 12:28 p.m.
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