A Suffolk County police officer and the Huntington Fire Department chief saved an 84-year-old disabled woman from her burning apartment in Huntington Friday night, Suffolk County police said.
Police said Second Precinct patrol officer Joseph Lanzisera responded to a 911 call reporting a fire at the Nathan Hale Apartment Complex just before 9 p.m.
When the officer arrived, he found Ken Cochrane, Huntington Fire chief, standing by the locked front door.
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Lanzisera broke a side window and climbed into the apartment and found the woman in her bedroom.
“He then moved through the smoke-filled hallway to open the front door to let Chief Cochrane in,” police said in a news release.
Together they went back into the bedroom and carried the unresponsive woman outside, police said.
The woman suffered second-degree burns to her face and hair, police said. Lanzisera suffered smoke inhalation. Both were taken to Huntington Hospital.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire.
