Fire Threat Continues Tuesday

By James Brierton
The MatadorOnline.com

With dry grass and breezy conditions expected again Tuesday, the National Weather Service has once again issued a Red Flag Warning for Long Island.

Multiple fire departments, including Centereach, Nesconset and Lake Grove, were on scene of a fire in Lake Grove Tuesday afternoon. The brush fire broke out in woodlands behind a local elementary school and came within a few dozen feet of nearby homes.

The National Weather Service had issued a Red Flag Warning for the entire tri-state Monday and reissued it for Long Island Tuesday morning.

"Residents are urged to keep vehicle out of grassy areas and to ensure proper disposal of any smoking materials," says a forecaster from the National Weather Service identified only as "JST" in the forecast. "It only takes a careless disposal of a cigarette to ignite a wild fire and with the dry and windy weather conditions a small fire could spread rapidly."

Three People Arrested for Burglary

Suffolk County Police have arrested three people for burglarizing homes in Lake Ronkonkoma and Lake Grove.

The burglaries occurred earlier this month during daylight hours when the residents were not home. The proceeds included cash, jewelry and electronics and were then sold at various locations within the nearby community.

Arrested and charged with two counts of Burglary 2nd Degree were:
· Albert Fernandez, 21, of 7 Melissa Court, Lake Grove
· Victoria Doyle, 18, of 7 Melissa Court, Lake Grove
· Melissa Haines, 17, of 2 Seawanhaka Ave., Nesconset

Doyle and Haines were also charged with Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. The suspects were arraigned on February 14. They are currently being held at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead awaiting further court action.

Fourth Squad detectives are continuing the investigation.

Grand Larceny at Smithaven

(Suffolk County Police) - Crime Stoppers and the Suffolk County Police Forth Squad Detectives are asking for the public’s help to identify and locate the woman who stole another woman’s pocketbook and used her credit cards.

On March 22, 2008 a woman from N.Y.C. was shopping at Macy’s at the Smithaven Mall, in Lake Grove when her pocketbook was stolen. A short time later her credit cards were used at several nearby stores.

The thief was caught on a store surveillance camera.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential and the caller will be eligible for a cash reward of up to 5000.00 for information that leads to an arrest.

Schools Dismissed Early

The Smithtown Central School District dismissed all schools early Friday pending the worst of the approaching snow storm.

The high schools dismissed seniors who drive to school at noon and all other students were dismissed at 12:30 p.m.

The middle schools were dismissed at 1:10 p.m.

Accompsett, Mills Pond, Mt. Pleasant and Tackan Elementary Schools will be dismissed at 1:50 p.m.. Branch Brook, Dogwood, Nesconset, St. James and Smithtown Elementary Schools will be dismissed at 2:30 p.m.

All after school activities have been canceled for Friday.

SmithtownRadio.com's Megan Russ has been tracking the storm from the Weather Center and tells us we could see between 2-3 inches of snow here on the north shore by the end of Friday. SmithtownRadio.com has complete coverage of the storm with updates at the top and bottom of every hour.

Arrest in Murder of Nesconset Dad

Suffolk County police have arrested the business partner of a Nesconset father who was shot to death in Commack last month.

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