Four injured in Hauppauge house fire

People in a house in Hauppauge were left homeless early Tuesday when their house caught fire, officials said.

People in the home were running a generator after their electricity was knocked out by Irene, but it was not immediately clear if the generator contributed to the blaze, fire officials said.

Four residents involved in the house fire were taken to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown with from smoke inhalation, Hauppauge assistant chief Eugene Oliver said. The condition of those victims was not known.

Oliver said eight people were in the home on Woodbury Road when the fire broke out at 1:11 a.m. It was not immediately clear if all lived in the home or were temporarily sheltering there following the storm.

Oliver said that the residents were using a generator when the two-story house caught fire. He said several rooms and the roof were destroyed and that the blaze was under control in about 40 minutes. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.

Police and fire officials said the American Red Cross was called in to assist with temporary housing for the residents of the fire on Woodbury Road.

Volunteers from the Hauppauge Fire Department, Lakeland, Central Islip, Nesconset and Smithtown worked the fire, and crews from Central Islip Ambulance, Brentwood Ambulance and Islip Exchange Ambulance responded.

The investigation is continuing, officials said.

Almost 325,000 homes in Nassau and Suffolk remained without power Tuesday morning in the wake of Irene, the Long Island Power Authority is reporting. Officials said it might be a week before all homes have power restored.