Apt. Fire Near Port Washington Elementary School Prompts Dismissal: FD

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A coordinated response from half a dozen local fire and police departments to a fire near Guggenheim Elementary School in Port Washington resulted in a safe dismissal of all students and no injuries, the Port Washington Fire Department reported.

On Wednesday at 1:20 p.m., the department responded to a fire in a Sands Place house apartment. The house was empty and no one was injured, and the fire was "quickly extinguished," the fire department said.

The Port Washington Fire Department got help from the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department and the Roslyn Highlands Volunteer Fire Co. while the Plandome Fire Department covered Port Washington in case of other calls.

Because the firefighters had to stage from the elementary school's only exit, the students were dismissed early. The Port Washington Fire Department credited Port Washington police, Sands Point police and the Port Washington School District with "quickly devising a plan to safely dismiss all the students, turn all the school buses around and [deal] with all the parents."

The cause of the fire appears to be accidental, the fire department says, possibly the result of plumbing work being done at the time, and the Nassau County Fire Marshal was notified.