Fast-moving fire razes century-old Long Beach lumber yard

Firefighters responded to a fast moving fire at a century-old lumber yard in Long Beach Saturday morning.
Fire poured out of the second floor of Whitbreads Lumber on Magnolia Boulevard around 10:30 a.m.
What started as a two-alarm fire quickly grew to a four-alarm, prompting the response from 19 fire departments.
The two employees inside got out safely but from the beginning ,there were challenges to fighting the fire.
"It is a lumberyard, so it has a high volume of combustible materials and we have a wind condition, so both of those did contribute to the fire," explained City of Long Beach Fire Chief Scott Kemins.
It took more than 150 firefighters about an hour and a half to put out the fire and continued to look for hotspots.
Fire investigators shared their drone video with News 12 Long Island which showed the hot spots and damage to the building from above.
"What you have right now, absolute wonder that nothing bad really happened," said Long Beach Police Commissioner Ron Walsh.
Fire investigators said they received a 911 call from PSEG crews who were working on wires near the building when the fire started.
"There was reports of something having to do with electrical wires down. They are investigating that right now," said Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro.
Investigators interviewed PSEG workers who were on the scene at the time about what happened.
The Whitbread Family could not be reached for comment as of Saturday night.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.