Crime & Safety

Tenants Homeless After North Sea Blaze

Roslyn Anderson, the only person in the building when a fire erupted on Saturday night, says she feels like she is starting over.

Roslyn Anderson spent Sunday sifting through clothes at the apartment she is now vacating in the hopes she can wash away the strong smell of smoke.

One of the tenants now homeless after a fire broke out on the second floor of the G & C Knoebel Electric building on Mary's Lane in North Sea Saturday night, Anderson said the tasks ahead of her seem daunting. 

"You just don't know where to start," said Anderson, while starting to pack up her front apartment. "But no one was hurt. That's what's important."

Anderson said she very well may have been injured had a woman, who lives above the building at East Coast Custom Cars next door, hadn't come banging on the doors to see if anyone was home after the fire broke out in the rear apartment. 

There are three apartments on the second floor, above G & C Knoebel Electric. The tenant in the rear apartment wasn't home, and neither was the tenant in the middle apartment.

But, Anderson, a nurse's aide at Southampton Hospital, said she had just gotten out of the shower, and was getting ready to leave for an overnight shift, when when she heard what she described as two gun shot-like sounds. "I looked outside, but I couldn't see anything — it was dark," she said, pointing out her bedroom window. 

Then she heard the woman banging. 

"I opened the door in my underwear and she said 'Come on, you have to get out.' But, I had to put on some clothes first so I threw on my jeans and an undershirt," Anderson said. 

Her 24-year-old who lives with her was not home at the time, she said.

• RELATED: Firefighters Stopped Blaze from Spreading in North Sea Building

She knew firefighters were able to stop the fire from spreading to other parts of the building. "I was amazed myself," she said, speaking of the residual damage that occurred from smoke and water. Parts of the Sheetrock came down as firefighters searched for pockets of fire in the roof. 

"I'm always sympathetic with people this happens to. Only when you find yourself in these shoes do you really know what it's like," she said. 

Anderson, who emigrated from Jamaica in 1995, has lived in the apartment for about two years.

She's staying with friends, but said she'll have to find some place of our own soon. 

For now, she's saving what clothes and personal items she can. She thinks the mattress and electronics may be ruined. 

She had already made one trip to a laundromat and threw away some items that were covered in soot, mostly her "good church clothes," she said. She goes to the First Baptist Church in Bridgehampton. 

"It's like starting all over when you don't have a lot of money," she said. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.