A 4-year-old boy was found sitting on the lawn outside a burning house on West Central Avenue in Monsey one afternoon, after a former fire chief saw the blaze and got him to safety. Former Chief Andrew Schlissel called 911 when he saw the fire and the boy, who was not injured, according to Monsey Fire Chief Adam Gordon, who praised Schlissel and said they were fortunate the child was alive. Schlissel said the boy appeared to have been left alone by his parents.
Ramapo police said no one was injured. The fire destroyed the house; an initial report indicated the boy may have started the fire while playing with matches, though the cause remained under investigation.
More than an hour after the fire was reported, firefighters were still cutting open the roof of the two-story house to release smoke and heat after flames destroyed the lower floor. The fast-moving fire, reported just before 2 p.m., heavily damaged the home. Dozens of firefighters from Monsey, Tallman, Suffern, Nanuet, and South Spring Valley worked in windy conditions to douse the blaze, with Sloatsburg on standby, as an estimated 100 onlookers watched from behind police tape.