Police

Crews demolish Mattituck building following deadly fire in June

Crews carry a way debris from the building. (Cyndi Murray photos)
Crews carry away debris from the building in Mattituck Friday afternoon. (Credit Cyndi Murray)

Four months after a fast moving fire swept through a Mattituck building, killing a 51-year-old man, piles of burnt debris are all that remain.

On Friday, crews ripped down the remains of the victim’s studio apartment and the attached, fire destroyed storefronts near Love Lane, including the anchor store, Liberty Data Systems.

The June 20 fire that killed Paul Mittleman is believed to have originated in his apartment, where he had been living for 18 months. After the fire, longtime friend Tom McCarthy said Mr. Mittleman thought of the studio apartment as “his little paradise,” according to a previous Suffolk Times report.

The tenant who lives in an adjacent apartment was not home at the time of the fire and the apartment did not suffer any serious damage.

The other stores that suffered serious damage were Renee’s Haircutter, Marshall Paetzel Landscape Architecture and AM Computer Consulting.

View additional photos of the demolition on the next page.