Father, daughter hospitalized in pre-dawn Aquebogue house fire
A father and daughter were hospitalized with non-serious injuries early Monday morning after their Aquebogue house was almost completely destroyed by fire, authorities said.
Riverhead police received a report of the house fire on Trout Brook Lane just past Robert Street about 4 a.m., authorities said. Police arrived on the scene to find the house engulfed in flames.
Riverhead firefighters rushed to the scene and began fighting the blaze, using a ladder truck to get onto the roof of the house. Flanders Fire Department also aided in putting out the fire, according to a fire report.
Riverhead ambulance volunteers immediately took the father and daughter, who were inside the house at the time of the fire, to Peconic Bay Medical Center, according to Riverhead Fire Chief Anthony White and Ambulance Corps officials.
Police at the scene said the victims’ injuries were not serious. No firefighters were hurt in the blaze, but the family’s pet dog was killed, said third assistant fire chief Pete Jackman.
By 6 a.m., the fire was extinguished.
Neighbors said the man who owns the house had been living on the block for the past 12 years. His daughter had recently moved in, they said.
The victims’ next-door neighbor, Lidia, said she was woken up just after 4 a.m. by screaming.
“When I looked out the window, I saw a police car in front of my driveway,” said Lidia, who did not give her last name. Debris from the fire had fallen into her backyard, she added.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Mr. White said.
