Nesconset’s Maria Michta training when fire started

Flames engulf a car belonging to the mother of a Nesconset woman competing in the Olympics later this month. (Photo: M. Pedersen / SmithtownRadio.com)

Nesconset, NY (SmithtownRadio.com) – Maria Michta was training just days before her departure to the Olympics when two cars parked outside her family’s home were destroyed by a raging fire Wednesday.

“Kristie and Katie were in the living room watching tv when they heard a large clap of thunder,” Michta posted to her blog Friday. “They saw the first wire fall down onto the middle of our lawn where it immediately began smoking.”

Within moments another wire fell, this one igniting her mother’s van parked in the street.

“They tried to call 911 but the line was dead,” the 27-year-old writes. “My mom was able to go over to a neighbor’s house and call 911 as everyone watched the whole back of the van go up in flames.”

Crews from the Nesconset Fire Department put out the fire, which left behind nothing but smoke and the burnt shells of cars.

When the fire broke out Michta was training at Sachem High School, where she graduated in 2004. She is traveling to London Wednesday to compete as a racewalker and she hopes her family will be able to join her.

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Suffolk County Legislator John M. Kennedy, Jr. and the Nesconset Chamber of Commerce took up a collection for the Michta family Tuesday before a performance at the Nesconset gazebo. The funds will be combined with donations made via Michta’s Web site with the hope of sending her family to London to watch her compete.