Two hospitalized after Long Beach fire

Two residents of a house in Long Beach were hospitalized Wednesday after an early-morning fire gutted their home, a fire official said.

Neither of the residents in the two-family house on East State Street were identified.

A man was treated for smoke inhalation at Long Beach Medical Center and released, Long Beach Fire Department Chief Richard Corbett said. The other victim, a woman, remained hospitalized Wednesday, also for treatment of smoke inhalation.

Corbett said responding firefighters found the man on the lawn beside the house. He said the woman had to be rescued by firefighters via ground ladder from a second-floor porch.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The fire was reported at 5:10 a.m., Corbett said.

Volunteers from Long Beach and Island Park responded to the blaze, as did an ambulance crew from Point Lookout. Oceanside and Atlantic Beach Rescue were on standby during the blaze, Corbett said.

Firefighters remained on the scene until about 9 a.m.