Chief: Firefighters Faced Several Challenges Battling 'Stubborn' Blaze

In difficult weather conditions, 70 firefighters worked for seven hours on Tuesday to completely extinguish a fire in a Water Mill house that started with a lightning strike on Tuesday.

Though there was significant water damage to the house and its roof was compromised, the house was not a total loss and many valuables were salvageable, North Sea Fire Chief William Rosko Jr. said on Wednesday.

In the midst of a severe thunderstorm on Tuesday, lightning struck, according to Southampton Town Chief Fire Marshal Cheryl Kraft.

A third floor smoke detector at the house on Woodthrush Lane triggered an automatic fire alarm at roughly 1:30 p.m., Rosko said, adding that he thinks lightning may have struck a large tree near the house and then house caught fire.

Fire chiefs went to the house to find the power was out — the large gates at the entrance to the house would not open. Second Assistant Chief Paul Delzatto was the first to arrive, and he left his vehicle at the gates and walked to the house on foot, Rosko said. He reported heavy smoke coming from the house, and requested engines to respond.

The house was not occupied, Rosko said.

"Nine times out of 10 these automatic fire alarms turn out to be nothing," he said, adding that the automatic fire alarm helped to save the house. "There's no telling how long it could have gone undetected with all that rain and that area is not that populated."

The fire department had a somewhat delayed response, arriving about 15 minutes later, Rosko said. "There was heavy flooding on Deerfield Road," the main road to reach the house, at the end of a flag lot, on Woodthrush Lane, which is a cul-de-sac.

Flooding wasn't the only challenge firefighters faced. They had to force the gates down to access the property, and there were no fire hydrants close by. Rosko said the nearest was well-over a mile away from the house.

In addition to the four trucks from the North Sea Fire Department, the chief called for help from Southampton and Sag Harbor fire departments. They made a quick attack on the third floor fire and had the fire mostly knocked down within an hour, he said.

However, when they tried to ventilate the roof, the house's construction of heavy timber and cedar planks, not to mention the cathedral ceilings, posed a problem. "It made it very tough for us to open that up and to get into the voids," he said.

After several failed attempts, the chiefs made a decision to use ladders to go up on the roof to get to the pockets of fire. The lightning and torrential rain made it a more dangerous and difficult task, he said. "It was a cedar shake roof and that gets slippery. Plus, the peak of the roof was a contributing factor."

"It was a prolonged fire that was difficult to get to," Rosko said. "It was very, very stubborn," he said.

They decided to bring in Southampton Fire Department's aerial ladder, but getting it to house wasn't easy. Firefighters had to use chain saws to cut down several large oak trees that stood in the way of the apparatus, as well as disconnect and drain a quarter-mile of supply line that had been laid to the house. "That took some time, too," Rosko said.

The chief called in for extra help from the Hampton Bays, East Hampton and Amagansett fire departments. The Bridgehampton Fire Department stood-by at North Sea's headquarters, though its rehab vehicle, manned with emergency medical technicians, set up at the scene to medically clear firefighters. The Southampton Volunteer Ambulance and the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance also responded.

No one was hurt. 

"Daytime response is always tough for all fire department agencies out here," Rosko said, adding that he wanted to make sure they had enough manpower and equipment.

All told, there were at least 12 fire department vehicles, plus four ambulances, and Bridgehampton rehab unit.

"It was a valiant, combined effort of all the departments," Rosko said. "We train together all the time for something like this."