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Mostly Cloudy A Sea Cliff home destroyed by attic fire
An attic fire that went out of control badly damaged a house at 53 9th Ave. in Sea Cliff on Tuesday morning. No one was killed or injured in the blaze.
Firefighters from Sea Cliff Fire Department were notified of smoke coming from the premises at 11 a.m. that morning. A fully loaded fire truck arrived shortly thereafter.
A neighbor, Kathryne Natale, said she first noticed the smoke billowing out of the property when the Fire Department arrived.
“I didn’t see anything until I noticed the fire trucks pulling up, and when I saw the smoke from the house I just thought, “How horrifying,” Natale said. “I closed the window to stop the smoke coming in. It’s so sad.”
Anthony Grella, first assistant chief in the SCFD, said that upon arriving on the scene his crew worked quickly to try to extinguish the flames by entering the building and then dousing the attic. Unfortunately, despite sustained efforts, their initial attempt was unsuccessful and the team had to fight the fire from the outside as well.
The fire was located in the cockloft, a void space created between the top floor ceiling and the roof decking that is common in Victorian buildings. A cockloft is unwelcome amongst firefighters, because it often provides an unimpeded passageway for fires to travel and spread through a building.
According to Grella, initial reports indicate that the fire was caused by a faulty air handler machine in the cockloft. He also said fires like this do not occur that frequently, although it can spread rapidly when it does.
It wasn’t just the SCFD on the scene however, as fire trucks from more than 10 other departments arrived to battle the blaze. Some fire companies that responded included Bayville, Glen Cove, Great Neck, Glenwood Landing, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay, Atlantic Steamer and Roslyn, which worked tirelessly to save the Victorian home.
The aid of the other departments was essential, largely due to the intense heat that day. It was 95 degrees in Sea Cliff on Tuesday. A firefighter’s suit, weighs between 55 and 75 pounds, Grella said, not including helmets and other equipment and gets incredibly hot. Coupled with the heat of the day it became necessary to frequently cycle out firefighters to prevent heat exhaustion.
The fire raged for nearly three hours and was put out only after the attic and much of the second floor were gutted. Grella said the support of the other departments, was essential to successfully putting out the blaze.
“We’d like to thank all of the responding departments today for their help. We really couldn’t have done it without them,” Grella said. “All the members from everywhere did a really nice job, and we appreciate it.”
Since the house fire was located only several hundred feet from Village Hall and the library, village administrator Bruce Kennedy was also brought to the scene to assess the situation. The significant damage caused by the fire and water damage from the hoses has left the house uninhabitable, he said.
“There was significant damage to the roof and attic, and with all that water we can assume there was significant damage to the walls,” Kennedy said. “The water actually worked its way down to the second and probably to the first floor, so there was a significant amount of fire damage and certainly a lot of damage from the water used to fight it.”
Only 15 years before, the house’s previous owners, Eileen Kennedy and Charles Haansmann, had fully restored the home into a Victorian era property.
The homeowner was at work and the children at school at the time of the fire. Additionally, no pets were known to be on the premises. The homeowner did not wish to comment.
Sea Cliff firefighters helped salvage what could be found in the house for several hours after the fire was extinguished, including a full wooden harp owned by the family.
