“We knew what we were getting into.” Island firefighters at morning fire

A fire that broke out on Sag Harbor’s Main Street early Friday morning has resulted in serious damage to several buildings, including the iconic Sag Harbor Cinema, which was destroyed.

Among the East End departments called in by the Sag Harbor Fire Department to help put out the blaze was the Shelter Island Fire Department, which dispatched a crew of eight aboard a ladder truck and a chief’s car.

“They called us at 6:40, it was 7:30 by the time we got there,” First Assistant Chief Anthony Reiter said. “The conditions were extremely poor. You could see heavy smoke and flames as you went over the bridge.

“We knew what we were going into.”

Conditions were extremely challenging with firefighters braving freezing temperatures and high winds as they battled the massive blaze. Published reports said that the fire broke out just before 6:15 a.m. near a rear deck at Sag Town coffee shop, which is adjacent to the historic art-deco movie theater. The high winds quickly spread the flames to neighboring buildings, including those housing the RJD Gallery, Matta, Collette, Brown Harris Stevens Real Estate and Compass Real Estate.

“The call came in as a smoldering fire and within 15 minutes, it had moved through the movie theater and the whole building,” explained Chief Reiter, who added that his crew was stationed on the southern end of the blaze where they were able to use the ladder truck to spray down onto the buildings and keep the fire from spreading any farther in that direction.

“It was all exterior operations,” he said. “Inside, it was too dangerous. The building was compromised, the walls were comprised and some walls had collapsed.”

In addition to Shelter Island, fire departments from across the South Fork responded to the blaze, including those in East Hampton, Southampton, Hampton Bays, East Quogue and Flanders.

Firefighters, streets and nearby trees were coated in a layer of ice after water from the hoses froze in the cold temperatures. Plumes of billowing thick, black smoke spread out over Main Street, and were pushed east and south by the strong winds.

A block away, at Route 114 and Washington Street, the smoke was so thick drivers could barely see as they maneuvered through it. Further south on Route 114, the haze and acrid smell of smoke hung in the air even beyond Sag Harbor’s border with East Hampton.

By noon, with the fire contained, the Shelter Island crew was released and returned to the station.

Despite the fact that several apartments are located over the storefronts involved in the fire, were no reports of any injuries or fatalities.

“It was a very well organized community response,” Chief Reiter said. “The highway department, police, EMS crews were all there. The highway workers sanded and salted the streets to make sure no one fell on the ice and lots of people were there handing out coffee.”

“The whole East End came together and they did a great job. We were just there to help,” he said. “I am really proud to be a part of it.”