I.S. Saluja

HICKSVILLE, NY (TIP): A young lady of 32 and her dog perished in a fire that broke out   in a Dix Hills home, December 14.

The local authorities  said the cause of the fire was not known at this stage. Around 60 fire tenders   were at the site.

According to Newsday which first reported the incident,  Tanya Indrani Bathija died, along with her dog, in a predawn fire in a Dix Hills cottage on Wednesday,December 14.Despite  the efforts of her parents and three Suffolk police officers, she could not be saved from the engulfing fire.

Tanya Bathija lived in a cottage behind her parents’ home on Carlls Straight Path, said Suffolk Police Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, head of the department’s homicide squad.

Tanya’s  father, Gobind (Ben) Bathija, a businessman and a community leader,  woke up early to exercise before work and when he looked out of the window,  he noticed the cottage on fire, Beyrer said.

“He alerted his wife at the same time as he called 911. They ran outside to the cottage and tried to get her out but it was fully engulfed,” Beyrer said.

More than 60 firefighters and rescue workers launched “an aggressive attack on the blaze,” which was reported at 2:54 a.m., Dix Hills Fire Department spokesman Steve Silverman said by email.

Two Suffolk County patrol officers and a sergeant “attempted to enter the cottage but were repelled by fire,” police said.

They were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for smoke inhalation. Beyrer said their injuries are not considered serious. Four firefighters were also treated at the site for minor injuries, Silverman said.

Bathija and her family own at least eight Dunkin’ Donuts stores across Suffolk, including in Patchogue, Blue Point and their latest location on Montauk Highway in Bellport.

Tanya Bathija received an undergraduate degree in international business and fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and an MBA in accounting and finance from Baruch College.

A funeral will take place on Sunday, December 18 at 10 A.M.  at Maloney’s Lake Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Lake Ronkonkoma. A prayer service will be held the same day  at 4 p.m. at the Asamai Hindu Temple in Hicksville.

The bereaved  family can be reached at (212) 470-3331, (516) 423-1705, (631) 355-0473 and (631) 482-0441.