Fire Strikes West Penn Home

A father and son escaped harm after a fire broke out at their Long Beach home early Monday morning.

The fire travelled through a wall from the basement to the attic at the home, at 628 W. Penn Street, and firefighters were able to control it within about 45 minutes after receiving a call at 5:21 a.m., said Richard Corbett, chief of the Long Beach Fire Department.

“It was a very labor intensive operation,” said Corbett, who explained that firefighters had to rip apart many walls in order to stop the spread of the fire. He noted that the home, possibly built in the 1920s or 1930s, is made mostly of wood and plaster and without any construction or materials to block the fire’s path.

“The son was sleeping in a second floor apartment when he smelled smoke and then woke his father up,” said Corbett, who reported no injuries at the fire scene. Jerome, Beth and Carl Kramer are listed as the residents at whitepages.com.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office will investigate the fire. Corbett said that it did not appear to be suspicious.  

Dina Merritt, who lives across the street from the home, said that her son, who was leaving for work, woke her up at about 5:30 a.m. to alert her about the fire, and several fire trucks arrived at the scene. “I started seeing a lot of smoke coming from the roof but not any flames,” she said.