Fire at Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation sends 1 to the hospital

One person was hospitalized with second-degree burns Thursday following a fire at the Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation, according to the Smithtown Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to the 164-bed nursing home on North Country Road shortly before 5 p.m. after reports of a fire in a second-floor room, fire department officials wrote in a social media post on Thursday.

When they arrived, firefighters encountered a partially extinguished fire on the second floor, with the building’s sprinkler system activated and operating, the post said.

The blaze was brought under control in about 30 minutes as Smithtown firefighters were joined by units from Nesconset and Kings Park.

One person at the nursing home sustained second-degree burns and was treated at the scene before being taken to a hospital, officials said. No first responders were injured.

It was not immediately clear if the injured person was a nursing home resident or employee.

Messages left at Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation were not immediately returned.

Photos from the scene posted on Facebook by the Smithtown Fire Department show the damage in a resident’s room, with personal items and bedding burned and lying strewn on the floor.

The scene was turned over to the Smithtown Department of Public Safety, which did not respond to a request for comment, and the Suffolk County Police Department, for additional investigation. 

Jennifer Luikart, spokeswoman for Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim, said the cause of the fire is still under investigation but a appears to be non-criminal in nature.