Update: Woman Found Dead in Southold House Fire Identified

Update:

The woman found dead in a house fire on Willow Pond Lane in Southold on Wednesday morning has been identified by multiple sources as Sidney Abbott, 78.

Abbott was a well-known feminist and lesbian activist as well as a former member of the “Lavender Menace” and author of the book, “Sappho Was a Right-on Woman”, according to the New York Post.

She graduated from the University of New Mexico and went to graduate school at Columbia University, studying urban planning, according to The Suffolk Times.

After graduating she worked in New York City government where she became the first community planning board member to be openly gay. Abbot also served on the Suffolk Town Democratic committee, according to The Suffolk Times.

Original story:

One woman died in a house fire on Willow Pond Lane in Southold on Wednesday morning, according to Southold Town Police.

Police received a call of a house fire by a private fire alarm company.

After the arrival of the first office from the Southold Fire Department, a volunteer fireman, who was a neighbor, tried to enter the house and find the only occupant but was turned back by flames and heavy smoke, police said.

When firefighters entered the home, the unidentified woman was found dead on the first floor of the house, police said.

Greenport and Cutchogue Fire Departments also responded to assist with this fire.

Southold Detectives, Suffolk County Police Deparment Arson and Homicide Squads and the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office are all currently investigating this fire.

Photo: Google Maps

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