Fire Razes Pool Store

A fire in Riverside last week destroyed a swimming pool showroom, injured two firefighters and forced the evacuation of more than 20 families from Riverleigh Avenue, Vail Avenue and Pine Street.

It took 125 firefighters with about a dozen pieces of equipment four hours to extinguish the blaze at Patriot Pools Inc., 454 Riverleigh Avenue, which was in full force when the first units arrived at 3:24 p.m. Wednesday.

The Flanders Fire Department assisted on the scene, and units from the Jamesport and Westhampton Beach fire departments were on standby in Riverhead. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but a spokesperson for the Southampton fire marshal's office said it is believed that the fire started in a faulty neon light fixture.

No civilians were injured, although small amounts of pool chemicals, including chlorine and hydrochloric acid, combusted in the blaze, causing "very heavy smoke conditions and the possibility of toxic gases," according to Riverhead fire chief Andre Kosianowski.

Thirty firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion brought on by both the flames and the temperature, which was in the high 80s. One Riverhead firefighter, Scott Lambert, was held overnight at Central Suffolk Hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation. Another fireman, Donald Owen, was released after being treated for second-degree burns on his arm.