Dix Hills fire handles 3 calls in 15 minutes

The Dix Hills Volunteer Fire Department said it had three major calls for help within a 15-minute span Tuesday morning.

"They had us running around like crazy," First Assistant Chief Tom Magno said at midday. "We handled them all without having to call for mutual aid. I'm really impressed by our guys."

The first call, at 9:15 a.m., was for a young woman whose Suzuki sedan flipped over and burst into flames after it struck a utility pole at Deer Park Avenue and Yorktown Road, he said. The crash closed southbound traffic on Deer Park Avenue during the morning rush hour, police said.

Magno said the woman, about 21 years old, told firefighters she had swerved after being cut off. She was able to get out of the car before firefighters arrived and her injuries were not life-threatening, he said.

The next call came at 9:22 a.m., for a medical emergency at a private home off Vanderbilt Parkway, he said. It turned out to be a 20-year-old woman who had died of a heroin overdose, Magno said.

The third call came at 9:28 a.m., for a medical emergency at a private home off Caledonia Road, he said. "An 80-year-old lady was found lying on the floor of her house by a neighbor. She apparently had been there since Friday and did not have an emergency signaling device. She wasn't in bad shape considering she'd been there since Friday," Magno said.

The department has three firehouses and about 80 active members. About 30 of them responded to the calls Tuesday morning, Magno said.

The identifies of the victims were not released.