Chief: 'Busy night' for Huntington Manor FD

Thursday night and early Friday were a bit busier than usual for Huntington Manor Fire Department, with three calls for fires in a span of about five hours, fire officials said.

There were no injuries to firefighters in the three fires, at a house on Kilburn Avenue in Huntington Station at around 8:30 p.m., at a commercial building with second-floor apartments at 1262 New York Ave. in Huntington Station at 8:45 p.m., and to another commercial building at 770 W. Jericho Tpke. in West Hills at 1:43 a.m. Friday.

"The guys did a fantastic job and we had great help between the departments," said Fred Steenson Jr., the first assistant chief for the Huntington Manor department.

Steenson said each fire took less than an hour to extinguish and none of the buildings was destroyed, although each did sustain significant damage.

Four residents of the second-story apartments in the New York Avenue fire were taken to a nearby hospital where they were treated for smoke inhalation, Steenson said.

"The fire at Jericho Turnpike was probably the toughest to fight, because it was in the dark, and the building was off the road on the top of a hill," he said.

Steenson said neighboring departments have met to talk about working together when fires break out, and the teamwork they displayed in the three blazes worked out well.

"We've discussed and planned about what to do as neighboring departments, and this was just a fabulous job," he said.

The Greenlawn and Melville departments fought the fire on New York Avenue, which broke out while the Huntington Manor firefighters were working on the fire at Kilburn Avenue, Steenson said.

About 50 firefighters from Huntington Manor, Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor responded to the home on Kilburn, where the fire that began in a bathroom and extended outside the back of the home into the attic.

All the residents got out of the house before firefighters arrived; firefighters did rescue a yellow Lab that was in the basement, Steenson said.

Greenlawn and Melville firefighters then responded to the blaze on New York Avenue, where the fire was confined to second-story apartment.

About 60 firefighters from Huntington Manor, Huntington, Melville, Greenlawn and Cold Spring Harbor responded to the early morning fire, which was contained in about 45 minutes, Steenson said.

Each of the three fires is under investigation, either by the Town of Huntington or the Suffolk County fire marshal, Steenson said.

Steenson said his department averages about 1,000 calls a year, including about 18 for serious fires.

"So this was a busy night," he said.