Gas Explosion Engulfs Three Long Island Homes in Flames

Two firefighters and a resident were injured when three Long Island houses were set ablaze by a gas explosion early Sunday morning, fire officials said.

The explosion shortly after 5:30 a.m. destroyed three homes in Meadowmere Park in Nassau County, close to JFK Airport, Nassau County Assistant Chief Michael Uttaro said. The explosion occurred in one house and the resulting fire also destroyed the two neighboring homes.

Two firefighters seriously injured when a wall collapsed were treated and released from a local hospital, and a homeowner who suffered severe burns was in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Nassau University Medical Center, Uttaro said.

Kevin Carrero, Meadowmere Park’s fire chief, lives across the road from the house that exploded and he helped with the rescue after getting his own children to safety. “It was like a big explosion, like a bomb going off,” Carrero told the New York Post.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation but it appears to be accidental, not suspicious, Uttaro said.

Topics Homeowners