Investigators are working to determine what caused a fire that tore through a building on the pier behind the Danfords Hotel in Port Jefferson on Tuesday, Suffolk County police said.
Around 9:13 a.m. emergency crews received calls reporting a fire on the docks in lower Port Jefferson Village, officials said. When crews arrived, they found a two-story office building, which sits on the pier along the Long Island Sound, ablaze. Responding crews called for assistance from multiple local departments and began to shoot water and foam to extinguish the fire.
Volunteer firefighters from four departments – Port Jefferson, Terryville, Setauket and Mount Sinai -- worked for hours to combat the flames. Emergency medical crews from the Port Jefferson Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps were also on scene. Although a stretcher was seen on the pier, police said no injuries were reported. It is believed that the building was unoccupied when the fire began.
Officials said the building was a “marina office structure,” which served as the office of the Danfords Hotel & Marina dockmaster. The building appeared uninhabitable after the fire, with all the walls and the ceiling missing. At the scene, firefighters were seen removing debris and pulling down loose hanging pieces of the roof after the fire was extinguished.
A spokesperson for the Suffolk County Police Department said that arson detectives are in the process of investigating the fire, but there seems to be no indication of criminality. Town of Brookhaven spokesman Jack Krieger said the Fire Marshal has yet to determine the cause of the fire.
Representatives from Danfords Hotel and Marina could not immediately be reached for comment. It is not clear if the hotel will rebuild the structure.
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