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Mattituck home burns down in early morning fire

A Mattituck house was reduced to just a chimney and a pile of ash in a fire early Monday morning that sent embers floating around the neighborhood.

Southold Town police responded to a report of a fire at 2820 Stanley Road just before 1:30 a.m. and found the home fully engulfed in flames, according to a police press release. No injuries were reported in the blaze.

Mattituck, Cutchogue and Jamesport Fire Departments responded to the scene. Southold police and the Suffolk County Police Arson Squad are investigating the cause, though police said “the fire does not appear to be suspicious in nature.”

Lisa Hellermann, who lives about a mile away on nearby Breakwater Road, said she saw the fire burn for “quite a while.”

“It was quite a fire,” she said. “It’s down to the ground. There’s nothing left but ash and a chimney.”

Ms. Hellermann said she had originally thought the fire was closer to her home because the smell was so strong and because burning embers were hitting her house. On Monday morning, she also noticed charred pieces of wood, some as big as two or three inches across, on her property.

“I guess the wind was blowing the fully lit embers all over the place,” she said. “It was actually quite dangerous because of those embers. This was a fully engulfed big home.”

Cindy Suozzi, who lives directly across the street, said the house “heavily burned” for at least an hour and a half.

“It was scary and it was sad — it was such a beautiful home,” she said. “It was very eerie that in the smoke, all you could see was the chimney.”

Ms. Suozzi said the house was unoccupied and unfurnished at the time of the fire because its owners had it listed for sale.

“It was just a shell,” she said.

The 7,000-square-foot home was listed on real estate sites as a newly built, six bedroom home selling for $849,000.

Video Courtesy of Victoria Hellermann

Fire crews on scene early Monday morning of a house fire in Mattituck. (Credit: Cindy Suozzi, courtesy)
Fire crews on scene early Monday morning of a house fire in Mattituck. (Credit: Cindy Souzzi, courtesy)

The remains of the home on Monday morning. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)
The remains of the home on Monday morning. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)

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