Firefighter in Critical after Fighting Blaze at News Director's Home

WCBS News Director David Friend and his wife spent months renovating the brick colonial home on Long Island.

Now  the house sits charred and gutted.

No one was home when the house caught on fire on Friday morning, but sadly a Firefighter was critically injured while battling the blaze at Friend's home. 

Doctors at North Shore University Hospital are keeping a close eye on Joseph Sanford, who remains in critical condition.

Sanford, a 17-year veteran volunteer with the Inwood Fire Department, fell through one of the floors of the home and was unaccounted for for several minutes before fellow firefighters found him in cardiac arrest under water and debris. He was revived and rushed to the Hospital.

“This is a devastating occurrence for us,” said David Friend, the owner of the Woodmere home and Vice President of CBS2 News.

“We are so saddened by the situation, and the Woodmere Fire Department and all the fire departments here are volunteer and our hearts go out to them,” said Friend’s wife, Wendy Kaplan Friend.

So far, investigators have not said exactly what caused the blaze, but said rags soaked with staining material for recently varnished floors may have been a factor.

H/T WCBS