Three Old Greenwich families are homeless after a “firestorm” quickly spread from house-to-house at the height of Hurricane Sandy, testing the resolve of shaken firefighters who were hailed Tuesday for their efforts to prevent the inferno from consuming the rest of the densely developed neighborhood.

A team of career and volunteer firefighters grappled with winds in excess of 80 mph and a treacherous storm surge Monday night that Fire Chief Peter Siecienski said forced them to stand down, but not before rescuing a dozen people from Binney Lane, a private drive off Shore Road.

[Neil Vigdor, GreenwichTime.com]