Sag Harbor fire forever a mystery
The cause of the massive fire that ripped through Sag Harbor’s main street last month, destroying a historic movie theater, will likely never be determined, local fire officials said Monday.
East Hampton Chief Fire Marshal David Browne told The Post that investigators will probably never know what sparked the Dec. 16 blaze, in part because two buildings involved were razed.
“A lot of what was there was gone,” he explained. “There’s not much we can really find.”
Browne added that Suffolk County fire investigators ruled out criminality after the blaze, saying there was “nothing suspicious” about it.
East Hampton Fire Marshal Tom Baker, who spearheaded the investigation, told Newsday that his decision to have PSEG Long Island cut power in the area immediately after the fire didn’t help his probe, either.
Because of that decision, he couldn’t assess the voltage at the time of the blaze.
But “there were 300 firefighters, and it was in their best interest to keep them safe,” he said.
The fire is thought to have started at 84 Main St., which housed a Compass real-estate office. It spread to the beloved artdeco theater next door, the Sag Harbor Cinema, which was left gutted, to the chagrin of community members.
Building Inspector Thomas Preiato said the decision to demolish 84 Main and raze the 1930s theater was made with engineers sent in by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
“The ‘movie’ building (partially) was removed the night of the fire as it was in imminent peril of collapse,” he told The Post in an e-mail.
“The building to the north . . . was severely damaged and beyond being repaired. It was razed once the investigation took place, approx. 48 hours after the fire.
“Due to its compromised firewall that was damaged during the fire, it had potential to impact another structure, #78 Main St., (to the north of it) which was not as severely damaged.”
As for the possibility that a carelessly tossed cigarette butt could have been to blame, Baker told Southampton Patch that theory seemed unlikely.
“We found cigarette butts everywhere in Sag Harbor,” he said. “We can’t pinpoint the fire to a cigarette — and we found burning in places where a cigarette couldn’t have gotten.”
Baker added that the investigation is essentially over, “unless someone comes forward with information.”
Firefighters from more than a dozen departments battled the early-morning blaze, which broke out behind the Compass building. While no one was injured, several buildings sustained severe damage.