2 Suffern homes damaged after car fire spreads

SUFFERN – A car fire spread quickly Thursday, growing into a wind-swept blaze that destroyed much of one East Maltbie Avenue home and damaged parts of another.

Police responded to 52 E. Maltbie Ave. shortly before 7 p.m. to find a car engulfed in flames, Village Police Chief Clarke Osborn said.

"At that point, we made sure that all the occupants were out of the home, which they were already," Osborn said. "We then assisted with traffic control for the fire department."

In addition to the four people who escaped the home were about four dogs, Osborn said. Neither the people nor the animals suffered injuries.

Suffern Fire Chief Michael Stark said the car fire spread to a detached garage between two houses at 50 and 52 E. Maltbie Ave. before spreading to the homes themselves. The house at 50 E. Maltbie sustained minor damage while the other home was heavily damaged by fire, smoke and water, he said.

"There was some extension to number 50, which was contained to the outside of the house," Stark said. "As you can see, number 52 had a lot of fire on all three floors. It's balloon construction so the fire got in through the outside and traveled right through to the attic."

Osborn said the flames were visible for miles and drove people to report the incident to authorities — including one person who called 911 after seeing smoke and flames from neighboring Mahwah, N.J. Many onlookers stood on the residential street during much of the emergency response.

In addition to the construction of the home, which allowed the fire to spread quickly and burn intensely, Stark said heavy winds helped fan the flames.

"I was at the Department of Public Works getting gas when the call came in ... and when I heard the address, I looked this way and I knew that it wasn't a car fire just by the smoke," he said.

Suffern firefighters were aided by the Tallman, Hillburn, Sloatsburg, Monsey and Mahwah fire departments. The Nanuet, Nyack and Hillcrest departments were held on standby. Osborn said the fire was placed under control by about 9:45 p.m.

Stark said one Suffern firefighter was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with a minor knee injury.

The cause of the fire was not yet certain Thursday. The Rockland County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Investigations also was on the scene.

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