A fire on Park Street in East Hampton early Saturday afternoon left extensive damage to a house and killed the family dog, East Hampton Fire Chief Duane Forrester said Monday.
The owners of the house, Brian and Emily Otto, were at an appointment in Southampton when Mr. Otto's cousin, who lives a few roads away, stopped by to drop off a birthday present for their 8-year-old. She saw the smoke, called Ms. Otto, and then called 911. Ms. Otto left her husband at his appointment and raced home. The Ottos' dog, Copper, a yellow Lab mix, was at home in a large metal crate at the back of the house, where the fire had started.
The chief, first assistant chief, and safety officer, who were the first to respond, "were able to gain entry, but had a hard time getting the kennel out," Chief Forrester said. When they finally got it outside, Copper was unresponsive. Police officers who had arrived by then attempted to revive the dog, and a firefighter even put his own mask on Copper, to no avail.
Firefighters entered the house from the front. "It was a quick knockdown, but it was burning for a while before we got there," Chief Forrester said, and "was almost using up all its oxygen." Inside at the back of the house there was "floor-to-ceiling smoke; normally you don't have that."
Firefighters from other departments came to assist. Ms. Otto, whose father is in the Bridgehampton department, said she took some comfort in seeing familiar faces "in a terrible situation."
The fire was contained to the first floor, but there was heat and smoke damage throughout the house, according to the chief, who said it had been so hot inside that the thermostats had melted and "the front came right off the television."
A town fire marshal determined that the fire had been caused by a "faulty electrical wire" behind the dishwasher.
The Ottos, whose 8-year-old and 3-year-old attend school and day care in East Hampton, have been told it will take six to eight months to make the house livable again.
"We're lucky that we have family in town," Ms. Otto said Tuesday. The Ottos are staying with her parents in Bridgehampton for the time being while they figure out what comes next. "We're fortunate to have options."
She said she was "eternally grateful for the emergency services that arrived on scene and did their best."
The Park Street blaze was the second fire the East Hampton department had responded to in less than 24 hours, and it would not be the last. The previous night, East Hampton had been called in along with several other departments to help at a structure fire on Deerfield Road in the North Sea Fire District. Firefighters were there until after 2 a.m. Some then rose early to take the ladder truck to a funeral on Shelter Island that started at 8 a.m. And from 9:30 to about noon, department members were training at a house in East Hampton that is to be taken down.
While at the Park Street fire, East Hampton and other departments from across the county were called to help fight the brush fires raging in the Pine Barrens near Westhampton Beach. With its rapid intervention team of interior firefighters and its tankers already on the scene at Park Street, "I was like, 'Everyone I have is here now,' " Chief Forrester recalled on Monday. Back at the firehouse after leaving Park Street around 3:15, "We were called again" to Westhampton, he said. This time, the department was able to send a brush truck and personnel.
