Duo saves woman in wheelchair from burning home

Duo saves woman in wheelchair from burning home

Officer Matthew Funaro photo from SCPD

An officer and a good Samaritan went into a blazing home on Wednesday afternoon to save an elderly woman who is disabled, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The 2nd Precinct’s Matthew Funaro responded to the house fire on Old Winkle Point Road in Eaton’s Neck at 4:45 p.m. to find flames and heavy smoking coming from the second floor, police said. He went inside and found resident Helen Morris, who was in a wheelchair, in the first-floor living room.

With the help of 55-year-old Kings Park resident Joseph Cartelli, who police said had been performing work in the home, Funaro carried the 88-year-old Morris out to safety. She was later treated for minor, non-life-threatening injuries at Huntington Hospital.

According to police, the Eaton’s Neck and Northport fire departments put out the blaze at the house, which is just off Northport Bay.

Detectives from the SCPD’s Arson Squad were investigating the cause of the fire, police said.