Woman may have lost childhood home in blaze

Sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Kathleen Calcano was awakened by her husband, John. Their Brentwood home was on fire, he told her.

The Calcanos quickly gathered up their pets - two rabbits, a chinchilla and their Yorkie terrier, Holly - and escaped, along with their three boarders, Kathleen Calcano said Tuesday morning.

But the family's high ranch on Rugby Street, where she had grown up, is likely to be condemned, said Calcano as she tossed fire-damaged debris in a garbage can near the driveway. The blaze ravaged the upstairs rooms and a portion of the first floor.

Fire officials said they received a call at 12:37 a.m. Everyone in the home was able to flee before firefighters and police arrived, Calcano said.

A release from the Brentwood fire department said fire heavily damaged an upstairs bedroom and the exterior of the house over a carport. The fire also extended into the garage, a first-floor living room and second-floor bedrooms, the release said.

About 50 firefighters had the fire under control in about 75 minutes, the news release said. The release did not provide a cause but said the Suffolk County police arson squad is investigating.

Calcano also said she was not sure how the fire started.

"We're still talking with the fire marshal, so I am really not at liberty to say," she said.

Calcano bought the home from her parents a few years ago. She and her husband had taken in college students as boarders, one of whom alerted John Calcano to the fire, she said.

As the five fled with the animals, they met a passerby at the front door. He had noticed flames shooting from the upstairs bedroom and was checking to make sure those inside were aware of the fire, Calcano said.

She said none of them were hurt. She and her husband are staying with family around the block, she said.

But Calcano was saddened at the possibility of losing her childhood home. Her parents passed away a few years ago, and she's lived in the house almost all her life, she said.

"It's not easy," she said, adding she had yet to hear from her insurance company. "I've had a car totaled, but I'm not sure about a house."