Black smoke was visible from as far away as Montauk late Sunday afternoon when the East Hampton Fire Department received word of a raging garage fire at 11 Robert’s Lane. The family in the house escaped safely and there were no injuries.
Fire Chief Gerry Turza said that several “fuel sources in the garage added fuel to the fire, for lack of a better word.” One vehicle parked in the garage was completely destroyed. Its tank, one of the fuel sources, released gasoline, and another, a 20-pound container of propane, contributed to the blaze. As firefighters worked to contain the flames in the garage, gasoline ran out along the ground toward the firefighters, making their job all the more hazardous. Chief Turza commended his team for “an incredible job with an aggressive interior and exterior attack.”
Eighty members of the department were on the scene with three engines, one hose truck, one tower ladder, two tankers, one heavy-rescue engine, and two fire police engines. The Springs Fire Department sent an engine to the East Hampton station and responded to two automated fire alarms in the village while the Robert’s Lane blaze was being fought. The Sag Harbor Fire Department’s rapid intervention team was also called in, in case there were any injuries.
Two rooms above the garage were also consumed by the fire, which was starting to spread into the house itself when firefighters put it out. The house did sustain minor smoke and water damage.
Chief Turza said the flames would have spread quickly to the main body of the house had an adjoining door to the garage not been closed. He called it a prime example of the importance of closing doors.
Firefighters arrived at the scene soon after the 6:30 p.m. call came in and remained past 8:30. The fire’s cause is not yet known, but it is not considered suspicious. The fire marshal’s office continues to investigate.