Miller Place Fire Injures 2 Women

A residential fire in Miller Place sent two women to the hospital and completely destroyed a Tyler Avenue home Thursday morning.

Resident Alexis Vitale, 20, who jumped from the second-story of her home to escape the blaze, and Miller Place Fire Department firefighter Kaitlyn Crosby were both taken to Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson shortly after the fire started. Vitale suffered from smoke inhalation and Crosby suffered burn injuries to her legs, according to fire officials on the scene.

MPFD Chief Vinny Tunkel said the home was completely unstable preventing firefighters from even entering the building. Tunkel said his firefighters initially tried to enter the front door, but the floor immediately collapsed and they were forced to exit.

The Vitale residence at 338 Tyler Ave. caught fire around 9 a.m Thursday, trapping Vitale on the second floor of the home, according to neighbors.

"There were flames pouring out of the windows," said Tyler Martin, who lives across the street from the Vitales and was outside watching the scene with his mother, Janice.

Another neighbor, Alex Higbee, said Vitale first threw her dog out of the window before climbing onto the roof.

"She was so scared to jump," he said.

Higbee's father, Bill, and Vitale's father, Jimmy, caught her when she jumped from the roof, neighbors said, adding she wasn't injured from the fall.

Vitale's mother, Yvette, and 15-year-old sister, Alycia, reportedly escaped the building without injury, but neighbors said two dogs and a bird were believed to have been left inside.

Tunkel said he was unaware of the fire's cause, though neighbors believed it was Christmas tree related. Tunkel added fire marshals and Suffolk County Police will be investigating the fire's cause.

Firefighters were still working on the fire at 11 a.m. Tunkel said since they couldn't enter the home and put the blaze out from the inside, there were pockets of fire in the residence that needed to be put out.

Along with the MPFD, firefighters from the , , Mt. Sinai and Middle Island fire departments were on the scene, along with emergency medical service vehicles from the Port Jefferson Fire Department.