East Hampton House Fire Extinguished
Update, Noon: A teenager who stayed home sick from school may have saved his family's East Hampton house when a fire broke out in the basement on Thursday morning. East Hampton Fire Chief Richard Osterberg Jr. said the fire, which is believed to have been electrical in nature, would have caused a lot more damage had no one been at the Morris Park house.
Chief Osterberg said the young man discovered the fire, called 911, and got out of the house. The East Hampton Fire Department was called to 26 Morris Park Lane at 10:18 a.m. Ken Wessberg, the second assistant chief, arrived first to find "heavy smoke conditions and the basement door was hot."
About 50 firefighters responded with all nine pieces of the fire department's apparatus. The rapid intervention team from the Amagansett Fire Department also responded in case firefighters needed to be rescued, and there were two ambulances from the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association. No injuries were reported.
"We had the fire knocked down within minutes of the first trucks getting on scene," Chief Osterberg said. Despite flames in the basement, firefighters did, at first, have trouble finding the source of the fire. The East Hampton Town fire marshal's office is investigating the exact cause.
Most damage to the house was contained to the basement, although there was smoke damage on the first floor. The structure itself was not damaged.
An engine and tanker from the Sag Harbor Fire Department stood by at East Hampton's headquarters, and the department responded to a chief's investigation during that time.
Original, 10:51 a.m.: Firefighters put out a fire at a house in East Hampton on Thursday morning.
The blaze was reported at 26 Morris Park Lane, off Three Mile Harbor Road, at 10:18 a.m. All of the occupants were out of the house, dispatchers said. Heavy smoke was reported on the first floor, and the fire was believed to have started in the basement.
The chiefs called for the Amagansett Fire Department's Rapid Intervention Team, in case firefighters needed to be rescued. A tanker and engine from the Sag Harbor Fire Department were asked to stand by at East Hampton's headquarters.
Firefighters reported the blaze was "knocked down" at about 10:45 a.m.
Check back for more information as it becomes available.
Correction: The fire was at a house at 26 Morris Park Lane, not 23 Morris Park Lane as originally reported.