Police: Man dies in raging Commack house fire
Officers responded to a home on Spinner Lane around 6:44 p.m. after a 911 caller reported a fire at the location.
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One man died in a raging house fire Tuesday in Commack, according to authorities.
Officers responded to a home on Spinner Lane around 6:44 p.m.
A neighbor told News 12 that he heard what sounded like an explosion just prior to seeing flames emerge from the second-story window.
"There was a bang. It sounded like artillery shells. You could tell it was not firecrackers," says Jacob Ciriac.
Debris flew from the second-story window before he saw the fire. Ciriac said he went inside to get his wife and leave, fearing the flames could spread to their home. A neighbor was already communicating details of the fire to 911 when they got to safety.
A patrol officer arrived on scene and went to back to the house to find Jean Laurent, who was trapped upstairs.
The officer was unable to remove Laurent from the residence. Laurent, 40, a resident of the home, was later found and pronounced dead.
Four other occupants of the home were in the house at the time the fire started.
Bertha Glaude, 67, Laurent’s mother, was able to exit the upstairs apartment prior to police arrival. Three downstairs residents - Bruce Alber, 58, Bruce Alber II, 40, and Nicholas Alber, 34 - also exited the house prior to police arrival.
Glaude and Nicholas Alber were both taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
An officer was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for evaluation for smoke inhalation. They stayed overnight and are OK.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
