Fire Engulfs Home in Strong's Neck

Fire ripped through an unoccupied one-story home on Maple Road in Strong's Neck on Monday morning, prompting four separate fire departments to respond.

The exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined, according to Dennis Mirante, first assistant chief of the Setauket Fire Department.

A neighbor at the scene said the home is owned by an older couple who have an adult son living in the home as well. The neighbor said the woman had taken her husband to the hospital earlier Monday morning and the son, a postal worker, was at work at the time of the fire.

Mirante said the first thing firefighters did was search for anyone who may have been inside the home at the time.

"We tried to search as best as we could, but were impeded by a lot of the contents in the house," he said. "We determined that it was unoccupied."

Firefighters entered the house through the front door with a 2.5 inch line, which Mirante said delivers the largest volume of water.

Fire companies from Setauket, Port Jefferson, Centereach and Terryville responded while the Stony Brook Fire Department was on standby at the Setauket Fire Department's main house. Suffolk police were the first on the scene, and a LIPA crew was also called for assistance.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.