East Hampton Town fire marshals are investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed a waterfront cottage in Montauk in the early morning hours on Monday.
A neighbor called 911 at about 2:45 a.m., after seeing flames at one of the 1960s-era cottages on Firestone Road, next to a property owned by Marc Rowan, the billionaire real estate investor. The single-story cottage at 74 Firestone Road, which faces Fort Pond Bay, was fully involved with flames, Montauk Fire Chief David Ryan said. No one was home at the time.
The fire chiefs called for the Rapid Intervention Team from Amagansett as back up in case Montauk firefighters needed assistance.
Firefighters kept the fire from spreading to the two nearby cottages on the property, according to Tom Baker, a town fire marshal, who called it a "good stop." There was little to no wind coming off of Fort Pond Bay, and temperatures and humidity were low, making for good working conditions, he said. When he arrived shortly after the firefighters, "the smoke column was straight up," he said.
The fire was extinguished within two hours, Chief Ryan said.
Mr. Baker said he and another fire marshal were on scene until about noon, sifting through debris and looking for the cause. The Fire Department was called back briefly when a small pocket of fire was uncovered.
"We're not ruling out electrical," Mr. Baker said.
The name of the property owner was not immediately available, but Mr. Baker said the owner had been at the property on Saturday, cutting the grass, and was on his way back from Queens.