'Quick Stop' on Amagansett Main Street Fire

Firefighters quickly stopped a fire on the roof of an old Amagansett Main Street house on Saturday night, Fire Chief Allen Bennett Jr. said. 

The fire department was called to the house at 9:41 p.m., and dispatchers reported flames were coming through the roof, Chief Bennett said. Though the house was under renovation, the homeowners were inside and were using the fireplace. Chief Bennett found flames near the chimney on the three-story Victorian, located at 327 Main Street, across the street from the Amagansett School.

The house had a "tricky" roof line, he said. "We had to get creative with ladders," he said. Initially, he wanted to use the East Hampton Fire Department's ladder truck, but due to the location of the house, the truck would have been unable to get close enough Instead, firefighters set up ground and extension ladders to reach the flames. They had to tear off some of the wooden shingles to get to all of the pockets of flames, but were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, stopping its spread to the rest of the house. 

"We made a quick stop of it," he said. 

In addition to the roof damage, there is some water damage, the chief said. No injuries were reported.

The East Hampton Fire Department's rapid intervention team responded, in case firefighters had to be rescued from inside the building, and an engine from the Springs Fire Department stood by at Amagansett's firehouse. All firefighters were back at their headquarters at about 11 p.m. 

A portion of Main Street in Amagansett was closed until about 11 p.m.