Two firefighters were injured when a chimney collapsed as crews worked to control a fire that destroyed three homes in Meadowmere Park Sunday morning.
The fire was located on the border of Nassau County and the New York City borough of Queens, triggering a response from several departments, including FDNY.
Officials told Newsday that a suspected natural gas leak trigged an explosion that ignited three homes around 5:40 a.m.
The rapid intervention team was actived when the chimney collapsed on Valley Stream firefighters. They were extricated from the scene and transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
One resident suffered extensive burns and smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital by helicopter.