Man, 56, killed in Patchogue house fire

The lone occupant of a Patchogue house was killed in a fire Thursday, the day he turned 56.

The victim, identified as Brian Nolan, was pronounced dead at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center shortly after the 10:55 a.m. fire on Howard Street. Firefighters had removed Nolan from the house.

A neighbor, Pat Fridrich, said her husband, Frank, a New York City firefighter, tried to enter the house to help but was driven back by the heat and smoke. She said the house was "smoking like crazy," and she called 911. Frank Fridrich declined to comment, but his wife said she was "very proud" of his rescue efforts.

Thursday was Nolan's birthday, according to Suffolk County voter registration records.

Another neighbor and longtime friend, Whitey Leavandosky, who lives down the block, said Nolan worked for the family business, Nolan's Auto Collision, on Waverly Avenue in Patchogue. He said the business was well known throughout the community.

"Whenever somebody has an accident, we say, 'Oh, did you go to Nolan's?' " he said. "It's a Patchogue thing."

Leavandosky said Nolan lived with his mother and sister, and that the family was "close-knit" and "extremely helpful to the community."

Homicide detectives were investigating the cause of the blaze, but a spokeswoman for the police department said the fire appeared to be noncriminal. A spokesman for the Patchogue Fire Department said it was an electrical fire.

The fire scene was just southeast of Sunrise Highway's Exit 52.