House fire breaks out in Kings Point

Janelle Clausen

Firefighters from around the Great Neck peninsula battled a large house fire and frigid temperatures for at least six hours on Friday night, fire company representatives said, with fire pouring out the home.

The home in question was 5 Catalina Drive in Kings Point.

Great Neck Alert Fire Company Steve Schwartz said that, upon their arrival, all three occupants were out of the house- as were the flames. A 20-foot wall of fire burst out the front door. The flames also went through the roof, kitchen area and out of other parts of the house, he said.

The company had also requested mutual aid. Manhasset-Lakeville offered a ladder crew and firefighter assist and search team, the Nassau County Fire Marshal came by, and Vigilant Fire Company had an ambulance on standby, Schwartz said.

They also had a mini emergency response vehicle – or MERV – nearby so people battling the blaze, who had ice forming on them, could warm up before returning to battle the fire.

“Being the extent of the fire, we had to be diligent for the safety due to the ice, the cold temperatures, and the type of structure it was and the volume of the fire we had at the time of arrival,” Schwartz said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Many Great Neck residents took to Facebook groups to share what they knew about the fire, ask what was going on, and see if it affected people they knew.

Melody Pourmoradi, a King’s Point resident, had asked the “Great Neck Mommies” Facebook group if they had more information about what was going on in Kings Point.

“All I could smell was smoke and I saw three helicopters above,” Pourmoradi, who was traveling along Middle Neck Road to pick up her sister at the time, said in an interview.

The house fire was so intense, another woman commented, she could smell it “all the way from the [Great Neck] Plaza.”

Schwartz said the home was still standing, but is now uninhabitable. He estimated there was “probably over $200,000 in damage, if not more.”

But what matters most is that people are safe, he said.

“That’s the main thing,” Schwartz said. “Life comes first, property comes second.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Dec. 30, after the fire was extinguished, to add comments from the Alert Fire Company Fire Chief. The story is still developing and will be updated as more information becomes available. 

Share this Article