By Carl Macgowan
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
Luke Imperato was the right person in the right place, even if he may not have arrived in time to save a Bohemia woman’s life.
The volunteer emergency medical technician was returning home late Sunday night from a shift at Sayville Community Ambulance when he saw his neighbor’s house on fire. Imperato, 21, and his father Joseph, a New York City Fire Department lieutenant, rushed to the burning single-story home to try to save a woman trapped inside.
But they were turned back by the heat and flames.
“I attempted a search,” Joseph Imperato, 53, said Monday. “It was too hot and I had to get out. I went around back, and same thing, I couldn’t get to her.”
Donna Blieka, 46, was rescued by firefighters, Suffolk police said. She suffered severe burns and was fighting for her life yesterday at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. Blieka was listed in critical condition.
The fire was caused by embers from a fireplace in the living room, said Sgt. Bruce Tilden of the Suffolk Arson Squad.
The house on Wall Street caught fire about 11:40 p.m. Sunday, police said. Luke Imperato, who lives across the street, spotted the blaze and used his radio to call a dispatcher.
Meanwhile, three teenagers escaped from the house and told the Imperatos that their mother was inside.
Blieka was found there by firefighters from the Bohemia, Lakeland and West Sayville departments. She was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore and transferred to the Nassau University Medical Center burn unit, where she was treated in a hyperbaric chamber.
Blieka’s three teenaged children were treated and released at Southside Hospital, police said. Yesterday the teenagers were believed to be with their father, who does not live with Blieka, a police spokeswoman said.
Joseph Imperato described the Bliekas as a “great family.” He said they had lived in the neighborhood for at least 15 years.
Imperato said his son accompanied Blieka to Southside Hospital. “We did the best we can,” he said.