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Mostly Cloudy Fire guts Seaford Harbor home
A waterfront home in Seaford was heavily damaged by a fire on Sunday morning, leaving a family of three homeless.
The Wantagh Fire Department received multiple calls about the fire at 3728 Somerset Drive in the Seaford Harbor section, on March 13 at 7:15 a.m. “When we got there, the entire back of the house was on fire,” Chief Jim Bloomfield said, adding that it also had extended into the roof.
Three people were home at the time — a woman, her daughter and her mother — and all escaped safely. Bloomfield said that they attempted to put out the fire with a garden hose, which delayed the initial call to the Fire Department.
The fire was brought under control within a half hour, and firefighters from Wantagh and Seaford remained on scene for two and a half hours. The entire back of the one-story house was blackened and part of the roof was destroyed. Flames also reached a crawl space, and the chief said that firefighters had to put out many small pockets of fire. “You could stand in their backyard and look through the house,” Bloomfield said.
The Nassau County fire marshal and the county Police Department’s Arson and Bomb Squad were called in to determine the cause of the blaze. It was ruled accidental, believed to have been caused by the child’s small, electric-powered vehicle that was plugged in at the back of the house to charge.
Somerset Drive is a narrow, dead-end street on a peninsula along the canals, but Bloomfield said he was still able to get enough fire trucks down the street.
The Massapequa, Bellmore and North Bellmore fire departments provided standby coverage for Wantagh during the fire — and were summoned to a fatal auto accident on Jerusalem Avenue. “We had a bunch of things going on at the same time,” Bloomfield said.
The fire damaged two adjoining houses, melting siding, fences and sheds, according to Bloomfield. The Hanly family, who lived in the home where the fire started, went to stay with other family members.
Although the daughter has not started school yet, the Seaford Harbor School PTA is looking to help the family. PTA President Dame Cascone said she is looking into what the family might need, and anyone interested in contributing should call her at (516) 455-3777 or email dame157@optonline.net.
