News

Determined police dispatcher averts house fire tragedy

A quick-thinking, off-duty Southold police dispatcher helped save the lives of a Mattituck family of five after their house went up in flames early last Friday morning, according to authorities.

Dispatcher Donna Lane was driving home on Main Road in Mattituck after a 4 p.m. to midnight shift at police headquarters when she spotted the growing fire and called 911 — one of several emergency calls about the blaze.

Police said that Ms. Lane saw that the back of the home was being engulfed in flames and rushed to the front door.

“She began to repeatedly bang on the front door and windows of the home in an attempt to wake any sleeping occupants, all while maintaining contact with her fellow 911 dispatchers,” according to a Southold police report.

“After several minutes of persistent screaming and banging,” Ms. Lane was able to wake up one family member who was asleep in the burning home — who in turn woke the others, including three children, ages seven, four and one.

Colleen Krupski was the first to wake up.

“We were just asleep, and then I heard banging on the door, which woke me up, and I saw a flickering light, and just immediately hopped out of bed, woke up my husband [Stephen Buczak] and we dashed to grab the kids,” Ms. Krupski said in an interview this week.

“Most of us were on the side of the house where the fire hadn’t touched, but my baby was on the side where the fire was burning, but we got her out of there before things got too hot.”

Mattituck firefighters fought a two-hour battle to extinguish the fire, aided by firefighters from the Cutchogue and Jamesport departments. Additionally, Southold, Greenport and Riverhead fire departments provided EMS coverage.

The cause of the fire — which is not considered suspicious, according to police — is being investigated by the Suffolk County Police Arson Squad.

“Lane’s selfless actions and quick thinking prevented a major tragedy,” the police report concluded.

After the fire, a GoFundMe page was created by relatives to help the young couple. By Tuesday morning, more than $17,000 had been raised towards a $50,000 goal.

Ms. Lane, an 18-year veteran of the Southold Town Police Communications Division, did not respond to a request for comment.

Ms. Krupski said her family is “forever grateful” to Ms. Lane.

“She got us out of bed before the fire alarm went off. My daughter’s room was on the side with the fire and it was heating up quickly, so she saved us 30 seconds to a minute of [the baby] being in that room. We are forever grateful that she was driving by.”

Ms. Krupski described Ms. Lane as a “very sweet, very humble person [who is] really looking for some privacy.”