Resident dies in fire at Manorville retirement community

An early morning fire claimed the life of a resident in a Manorville adult community Tuesday, Suffolk County police said.

Police have not released the identity of the victim, pending an autopsy, but confirmed the victim had died in the blaze at a home on Village Circle North in Greenwood Village, a 55-and-over retirement community just north of Sunrise Highway. The victim was alone at the time, police said. 

Police said the fire was reported in a 911 call at 6:36 a.m. and said first responders arrived on scene to find the home "fully engulfed."

Fire Coordinator Rudy Sunderman said the fire not only severely damaged one home, but said heat from the blaze damaged two neighboring homes.

The community features what officials described as largely prefabricated homes on close, tight lots in a densely populated development.

Arson investigators and the Suffolk Homicide Squad were on the scene, as were responders from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office. Police said the cause of the fire was deemed to be noncriminal.

Fire officials said firefighters from Manorville, Center Moriches, East Moriches, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Riverhead, Westhampton Beach, Eastport and Brookhaven National Lab battled the blaze and were able to bring the fire under control by 8:13 a.m.

One community resident, Butch Rahne, 61, was out walking his dog near the scene, but said he didn't know anyone who lived in the home.

"I heard the fire trucks about 6:30 a.m.," he said. "It's usually pretty quiet. You don't see a lot of people out in general."

Check back for updates on this developing story.