Fire leaves Great Neck Estates home scorched, but residents unharmed

Janelle Clausen
A home in Great Neck Estates suffered significant damage from a fire early Sunday morning, started by what fire officials say was a pellet fuel smoker. (Photo from Vigilant Fire Company)
A home in Great Neck Estates suffered significant damage from a fire early Sunday morning, started by what fire officials say was a pellet fuel smoker. (Photo from Vigilant Fire Company)

A blaze tore into a home on South Drive in Great Neck Estates early Sunday morning, damaging the house as everyone inside escaped unharmed, fire officials said.

Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company Chief Joshua Charry said Monday the fire, which started around 3:45 a.m., involved the interior and exterior portions of the first and second floor of the rear of the house as well as the attic. It was declared under control at 5:29 a.m.

Charry said the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office determined the cause of the fire was a pellet fuel smoker on the rear deck.

“Apparently the family had been using it the night before to cook part of dinner and they might have thought it was fully out,” Charry said, “but apparently not.”

The family was inside the home but was alerted by smoke detectors and escaped unharmed, Charry said. A firefighter was evaluated for a “minor injury” but did not go to the hospital.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office confirmed the fire as accidental, with the source being the pellet smoker on the rear deck, and that nobody was injured.

Mutual aid units on the scene included the Great Neck Alert Fire Company, Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department, Albertson Fire Department and New Hyde Park Fire Department.

The East Williston Fire Department had an engine on standby, the Westbury Fire Department had a ladder truck on standby, and the New Hyde Park Fire Department had a standby ambulance at the firehouse.

Charry said the South Drive fire, which marked only the second time the Vigilant Fire Company has been the main responder this year, caused “significant damage” to the house. But he noted that the “house is salvageable.”

“In spite of property losses, there have been relatively few injuries and the injuries we’ve had have been very minor,” Charry said. “We’ve been very lucky that way and that counts civilians and firefighters.”

Charry also emphasized the importance of everyone having up-to-date carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide detectors.

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