'Million-dollar' Fire Island home destroyed, bringing firefighters and onlookers from near and far

A fire early Sunday destroyed a recently sold home in Fire Island Pines, and the sound of crackling bamboo and the sight of tall flames drew panicked residents from their homes overnight for a closer look.

The three-bedroom home on the private Cottage Walk enclave, which a real estate agent said sold just 10 days ago, was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived shortly after midnight, Fire Island Pines Chief Kyle Merker said.

"We couldn't even see there was a house here," Merker said of the initial view of the property on the dark, remote barrier island. "I went around the side and saw the house ... it looked like a bamboo fire, but it was spreading and it was dry and it was windy."

Vincent Petrarca, a real estate agent on the island, said the house had just sold for more than $1 million to a client who was able to safely exit the home with his parents as it burned.

"It’s destroyed. It’s like a bomb went off," Petrarca said.

Merker, who has served with the department for 30 years, said no injuries were reported from the fire. The dry, burning bamboo and electrical wires that hang just above where the department placed tankers led to a decision by first responders to cut power in the area, he said.

Elizabeth Flagler, of PSEG Long Island, said electrical power to 672 customers on the island was cut for about 2 ½ hours shortly before 1 a.m.

"Bamboo burns so easily," Merker said. "And when bamboo burns, it pops, so it sounded like popcorn."

That crackling noise and a fire siren caught the attention of year-round residents Clarke Sondermann and Mark Campbell, who were going to sleep when the fire sparked just a few houses down. They joined others from the island, which is sparsely populated in late October, to watch from the scene.

"It was really intense," Sondermann said. "I'm glad the fire department reacted so fast and they were able to get it under control, but it was scary."

Campbell said he was amazed at how quickly "and efficiently" firefighters responded to battle the blaze.

Merker, who arrives at fires in the unpaved community on an all-terrain vehicle he drives across the ocean beaches, said offseason fires prompt an automatic mutual aid response from other departments. Members of 11 local departments joined Fire Island Pines at the scene, including most of the other island companies and several from the mainland, including volunteers from West Sayville and Bayport.

Firefighters from off-island respond in a combination of ways, including by their own private boats and Sayville Ferry Service, which gets an automatic alarm and staffs a boat during emergencies, Merker said.

"[Plus] two of my firefighters had a boat in the water and brought people over," added the chief, whose firehouse is a quarter-mile down Fire Island Boulevard from the damaged home.

While the cause of the fire is still being investigated, Merker said the initial indication is it was electrical.

A house directly across Cottage Walk suffered some exterior fire damage, but Merker said it was spared the worst as firefighters prioritized controlling the spread with the originating home already lost. Firefighters were able to cool down two propane tanks beneath the house whose emergency valves had opened. The sound caused some to think it was an explosion. The tanks are designed with those valves to avoid a catastrophic explosion of the propane tank itself, authorities said. 

Officials with the Suffolk County Water Authority and Brookhaven Town were on scene Sunday morning with police expected to return to continue the required investigation.

The emergency personnel were joined outside the house by the occasional onlooker, as people walked by, many with their bags packed heading to the nearby ferry to return to their permanent residences. Merker said Sunday was supposed to be the day he winterized his house.

The chief said house fires this significant happen only every "couple of years" on Fire Island, usually in the offseason when people aren't home to report it as quickly as the new homeowner did Sunday.

"The houses here, they're all off the ground, so they're baking in the sun and we have air on all sides of the house, including underneath," Merker said. "So once a house starts to go out here, it starts to go pretty quickly."

The cosmetically planted bamboo that helps give Fire Island its unique look doesn't help, he said.

"It's not a native plant so it just keeps taking over ... it's everywhere," Merker said. "And we don't have pandas to eat it."

With Matthew Chayes and Janon Fisher

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.