Firefighters battle blaze at Merrick house

Firefighters Thursday morning encountered “heavy fire” burning through first-floor rooms at the back of a house at 100 Grand Ave in Merrick, according to Ron Luparello, a Merrick Fire Department spokesman.

Luparello said firefighters made a “fast, aggressive entry” into the house with a hose line and extinguished the fire before it could spread beyond two rooms. He reported that no one was injured, but the house suffered serious fire, smoke and water damage.

No one was home when the fire started, according to Luparello. He said a resident returned home, observed smoke or flames and called 911 at about 8:40 a.m. He also said that neighbors ran one block to the Merrick Fire Department’s Friendship Engine and Hose Company, at 2075 Meadowbrook Road, to alert its members.

About 45 firefighters from the Merrick, North Merrick, Bellmore and North Bellmore fire departments responded to the scene, Luparello said. He added that Bellmore, North Merrick and Wantagh firefighters “stood-by” at Merrick firehouses in case other emergencies occurred.

Christopher Clement, assistant chief of the Merrick Fire Department, took charge at 100 Grand Ave, according to Luparello. He said firefighters saw flames “blowing out the rear windows” of the house. They got inside by breaking through a back door.

Luparello said the Nassau County Fire Marshal is investigating the fire’s cause.