Fire Reported at West End Road House

                                                                                                                               Morgan McGivern

East Hampton firefighters were called to a West End Road house on Wednesday afternoon after a report of a fire. When the first fire officials arrived on the scene, flames were reported coming through the roof of the oceanfront house at about 2:40 p.m.

Heavy smoke could be seen pouring from the house's roofline and over the beach. Portions of the house's second floor had apparently collapsed as fire trucks began to arrive.

The 911 call apparently came from 57 West End Road, but that address could not be immediately confirmed. The listed owner of that 1.3-acre property is West End Road Partners of Los Angeles. Peter Morton was listed as the applicant in an East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals hearing in February concerning the placement of air-conditioner units at 57 West End Road. He is a co-founder of the Hard Rock Café restaurant chain.

East Hampton's fire chief called for an additional tanker from the Amagansett Fire Department. Another tanker and a fire truck were summoned to stand by at East Hampton's headquarters. A rapid intervention team, used in case a firefighter becomes trapped, was summoned from the Sag Harbor Fire Department.

West End Road is a narrow, almost single-lane roadway near the Georgica bathing beach, where firefighters set up a staging area. Weather conditions Wednesday were dry and cold with a high wind gusting to 26 miles per hour from the northwest.

Update, 5:26 p.m.: Firefighters remained on the scene of the 57 West End Road fire well into the afternoon. Among the departments sending tanker trucks and other equipment were the Hampton Bays, Southampton, and North Sea fire departments. The slate-roofed, stucco house appeared to be a total loss.