Raccoon makes opportunistic firehouse visit in Holtsville

A masked intruder burglarized a firehouse late Sunday while volunteers were out at a car fire.

The intruder turned out to be an opportunistic raccoon.

Suffolk County police Emergency Service officers were called to the Holtsville Fire Department to remove the raccoon, who officials said wandered into the firehouse on Waverly Avenue while firefighters were out battling a car fire in a wooded area off the Long Island Expressway.

Photos showed the raccoon settled onto a metal shelf area next to firefighting gear.

The firefighters who found the raccoon called police, who sent out emergency services officers. Those officers captured the raccoon, removed it from the firehouse — and released it back into the wild.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”