Officers Enter Burning Home To Save Dog, Cat

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — Two Suffolk police officers saved a dog and a cat from a burning home in Central Islip Friday afternoon.

Officers Sergio Rivera and James Galanos responded to the house fire on Oak Street at 3:10 p.m.

When they arrived, two children coming out the front door of the home told the officers their cat and dog were inside.

The officers went inside through the back of the house and saw Tiger, a two-year-old cat run away from the fire towards the basement door.

Due to the smoke, the officers could not find the dog, but then heard JJ, a two-year-old Chihuahua whimpering near a couch. They found him inside a cage near the fire. Rivera grabbed the cage and he and Galanos made it out of the house along with the dog.

A short time later, Galanos went back into the home and found Tiger in the basement.

The animals, as well as the 11 and 13-year-old boys, were not injured.

The Central Islip Fire Department extinguished the fire. Arson Section detectives are investigating the cause of the fire. The Islip Town Fire Marshal responded.