East Hampton home consumed in house fire; owner’s dogs dead

EAST HAMPTON — Three dogs died Thursday afternoon as a stubborn fire gutted a single-family home at 51 South Main St.

No others were injured in the blaze, which was called in to a 911 dispatcher at 3:53 p.m.

The fire spread a noxious cloud of dirty gray/brown smoke over the neighborhood and required the combined efforts of at least a half-dozen area departments before it was brought under control.

“I was in the house with my kids when I started smelling smoke,” said Jocelyn O’Neill, who lives at 33 S. Main St. with her son, 12, and her daughter, 3. “At first, I thought someone had lit a campfire in their backyard.”

But then, lights flashing and sirens blaring, a convoy of East Hampton Fire Department engines pounded down the street headed to the source of that smoke.

Incident commander Assistant Fire Chief Peter Freund said he arrived at the fire site within three or four minutes of the alarm sounding. “Flames were shooting from the house” when he showed up.

At least initially, “We had lots of steel [engines], but no people,” Freund said.

The neighborhood is not serviced by fire hydrants, which meant the call went out to other departments for tanker trucks. But as he tried to get a handle of the stubborn fire, Freund said his immediate need was “Manpower. Just manpower.”

At least at first, the bulk of the fire was contained in the rear of the muted red clapboard Queen Anne-style house. The style of the house, with its mix of peaks and dormers, presented unending challenges to firefighters, Freund said.

“Every time they turned around, there was another peak,” and another source of flames that had to be contained.

An American flag hung from a pole hear the front door of the house.

As they began to break windows to attacks flames in the front room, two East Hampton firefighters paused to first respectfully remove the flag from its holder and spirit it out of harm’s way.

Homeowner John Krom stood across the street from his home, until East Hampton medics convinced him to sit down in a wooden chair brought from the home across the street. When he did, the medics wrapped him in a blanket, lap robe and warming blanket.

Krom declined to speak. However, Fonda Engel, who identified herself as a friend of Krom’s for the past five years, said, “He was just coming home from work “when he saw the flames and smoke billowing up from his home.”

Fighting back tears, Engel said Krom lost a German Shepard, a Chihuahua and a Shih Tzu mix in the fire. The dogs lay at the base of front porch, wrapped in orange tarpaulin before they were removed from the scene.

Units from Colchester, Glastonbury, Marlborough, Middletown and Portland all responded to the mutual-aid request from East Hampton. The neighboring unit either came directly to the fire scene or took up positions at East Hampton’s three fire stations in case another call came in.

Building Official Glen LeConche, staging off site, arrived just after 6 p.m. to inspect the house and determined if any part of it could be saved.

Fire Marshal Rich Klotzbier conducted a preliminary inspection of the exterior of the home.

After he did, Klotzbier said, the cause remains under investigation. “Given the severity of the damage, I asked the state fire marshal to assist us.”

Michael Maniscalco / Contributed photo This East Hampton home was consumed by a late-afternoon fire that killed the owners’ dogs.