Police officers rescue woman, dog from Central Islip house fire

Suffolk County police officers Saturday rescued an 84-year-old woman and her dog from a house fire in Central Islip, police said.

Officers Sergio Rivera and John Votta arrived at the house on Rossmore Avenue at about 3:20 p.m. in response to a 911 call and saw smoke coming from the attic. The officers knew an older woman lived in the house and was unaccounted for, so they broke down the door, a police news release said.

The woman was found on the first floor of the house, “unaware the second floor and attic were fully engulfed in flames,” the news release said.

Rivera and Votta carried the woman and her Chihuahua dog out of the house. She was not injured, police said.

The police arson squad and Central Islip Fire Department responded to the fire, police said. The cause is under investigation.

By David Olson

david.olson@newsday.com@DavidOlson11

David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.