Officials say the 2-year-old, 12-pound dog named Chase woke three people as a Sunday blaze damaged two neighboring homes.
LONG BEACH, N.Y. — A two-year-old mini goldendoodle named Chase woke a sleeping Long Beach family early Sunday, Nov. 9, moments before flames tore through their East Hudson Street home and jumped to the house next door, according to city fire officials and witnesses.
The quick alert helped three people get outside without injuries while firefighters converged on the narrow block just after dawn. The Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office said both homes were left uninhabitable pending repairs. Assistant Fire Chief Rick DiGiacomo said residents first realized something was wrong when the dog would not stop barking. The department’s cause-and-origin team opened a routine investigation that continued Monday, with crews documenting damage patterns and interviewing occupants and neighbors to narrow where the fire started and how it spread.
Chase’s owners said the bark was different from a knock-at-the-door warning—sharp, insistent and constant. One adult headed for the hallway and saw smoke pressing along the ceiling. A second family member shook another awake, and the group moved toward the front door as alarms began to chirp. Outside, they watched engines turn onto East Hudson Street while wind pushed a stream of gray smoke across yards. “The residents were woken by the dog barking, and then looked out and saw the fire,” DiGiacomo said. A 28-year-old son who had been upstairs climbed through a window onto a roof over the porch and met relatives on the sidewalk. The family kept Chase on a short leash while crews advanced the first hose line through the entry. Within minutes, heat along a side wall ignited material on the neighboring house and command called for more units to protect the exposure.
Assistant Chief Hadrick Ray, who arrived early, ran to the adjacent home where a couple in their 80s lived and helped guide them out as smoke thickened near the eaves. Firefighters laddered both buildings, vented heat from the primary home and cut off fire moving toward the attic. Neighbors described a burst of sparks as siding warped near a window, then a hard push of water that darkened the flames. By midmorning, hoses snaked across the block, and firefighters worked in cycles to pull ceilings, check voids and cool hot spots around a rear corner. No injuries were reported among residents or responders. Utility crews shut gas at the curb and secured power while investigators photographed charring and traced wiring runs to document what burned first and what likely ignited later.
Salvatore Brecciano, who was not home at the time, said he learned his family was safe before he saw the damage in daylight. He described the dog as small and energetic, a 12-pound mini goldendoodle who shadows people from room to room. “He’s always alert,” Brecciano said on the block. “If he hadn’t barked, I don’t want to think about it.” Neighbors said they initially thought a car alarm had tripped. When they stepped outside, they saw a glow against the side of the house and firefighters stretching hose through a narrow side yard. A resident across the street said crews worked methodically: one team inside with tools, another posted between the houses to keep water on the wall where heat was strongest, and a third clearing attic spaces to keep flames from running overhead.
Long Beach’s close-set homes and ocean breeze can challenge crews during early-morning calls, firefighters said. Houses on interior streets often sit only a few feet apart, and small exterior fires can climb quickly along siding to soffits and into concealed areas. Residents on East Hudson Street said the morning air was brisk with a steady breeze from the south that pushed smoke down the block. The city has emphasized fast mutual aid and exposure protection after prior incidents where wind carried embers from one roof to another. Sunday’s tactics reflected those lessons, with early lines placed both inside the first home and outside between structures to halt lateral spread before it reached a third property.
Investigators spent Monday canvassing the block for any security camera footage that captured the first light or smoke. The Fire Marshal’s office said both structures sustained significant heat and smoke damage; boards went up on broken windows while insurance adjusters scheduled site visits. The cause remained undetermined, with standard checks underway on appliances, recent electrical work and potential ignition points near exterior walls. Officials said there were no immediate signs of criminal activity. The Red Cross and city staff were coordinating temporary lodging for displaced residents, and a structural review would decide when owners could briefly reenter to collect valuables under escort.
Procedurally, the Fire Marshal’s report will include a diagram of rooms and burn patterns, statements from occupants and first-arriving crews, and a timeline built from 911 logs and radio traffic. If the cause is ruled accidental, the investigation will close after photographs and documents are filed and insurers are notified. If a specific component or installation is suspected, the office could retain samples for laboratory review or request manufacturer information. Officials anticipated preliminary findings later this week. Any follow-up briefings will note whether the origin was inside the home, on an exterior wall, or in a detached area such as a shed or receptacle, and whether wind or building layout accelerated how heat traveled upward.
On Monday afternoon, the block still smelled faintly of smoke. Soot marked a strip of siding between the homes, and a small pile of charred debris sat near the curb. Neighbors stopped to talk with the family and to peer down the narrow side yard where firefighters had worked. “You could hear that bark two houses away,” said a resident who watched crews ladder the roof. Another neighbor described firefighters kneeling in the doorway with a hose while someone else carried a thermal imaging camera inside. A passerby showed a phone photo of the small, curly-haired dog sitting between two adults on the sidewalk, tail still, eyes fixed on the front steps. “That dog did not give up,” the neighbor said. “He kept at it until they were out.”
As of Tuesday morning, both homes remained closed to residents and the cause was still under investigation. Officials said a written update could come later this week once interviews and scene work are complete.
Author note: Last updated November 11, 2025.