An early morning house fire heavily damaged a Wantagh home this past Monday. The fire was reported when two passersby alerted the homeowner that smoke was coming from a second floor window of their home on Red Maple Drive East. The homeowner awoke his wife and the family vacated the house.

Wantagh firefighters, under the command of Chief John Gillen, responded to the 7:31 a.m. blaze. The first to arrive was a Nassau County police officer, followed immediately by Assistant Chief Robert Nicosia at 7:35 a.m. who reported a working fire. All stations were re-alerted and the first arriving firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the second floor, quickly followed by fire out of the window.

An aggressive interior attack quickly had the fire under control but not before smoke and water took its toll upon the expanded Levitt ranch. Thankfully all escaped the flames and there were no injuries to firefighters.

Chief Gillen requested an investigation into the possible cause of the fire and Fire Marshal George Laakso responded. The cause is still undetermined and the investigation continues.