A house under construction in Wainscott experienced heavy damage after a fire tore through it on Friday morning.
The East Hampton Fire Department was called to 25 Ridge Road at 8:23 a.m., and the East Hampton chief immediately asked the Sag Harbor and Southampton Fire Departments for assistance.
“As soon as the first guys were arriving, the house was fully up,” East Hampton Chief Duane Forrester said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “It was a total loss when we got there.”
Chief Forrester said that the department immediately “went defensive” and worked to contain the fire before it could spread.
“At one point,” Chief Forrester said, “we had embers that went into the woods across the street.” This resulted in a small brushfire that was “mopped up quick,” he said.
“The biggest struggle was water in the area,” he said. “We laid almost a mile worth of hose from Ridge Road to the Maidstone Gun Club, which was the closest usable hydrant."
There were no injuries.
The Sag Harbor and Southampton Fire Departments sent tanker trucks to provide extra water. The Amagansett Fire Department sent an engine as well. Members of the Springs Fire Department stood by at the East Hampton Firehouse in case any other emergencies were called in while the department was in Wainscott.
As to what caused the fire, Mr. Forrester deferred to the town fire marshal's office, which, at time of reporting, had not responded.