Port Washington Construction Site Fire Deemed 'Suspicious'

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A bomb squad team was sent to a Port Washington construction site that caught fire Tuesday night and officials are calling the blaze is "suspicious."

Two residents called firefighters around 10 p.m. Tuesday reporting flames at a construction site near Ashwood Road and Ford Place, Brian Waterson, chief of the Port Washington Fire Department, told Patch on Wednesday. Developers are building homes on the property.

Firefighters found hay bales burning in the middle of the site. There was no electricity or lightning in the area that could've caused the rubbish to spontaneously combust, Waterson said. Due to the fire's proximity to last week's arson fire at the Kostal Paddle structure in Manorhaven Beach Park, the Ashwood Road fire has been deemed suspicious.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal's office is investigating.

Three fire trucks and an ambulance were sent to the site, Waterson said. Once firefighters realized what was burning, five firefighters and Waterson stayed.

There were no suspects as of Wednesday morning.

Resident Kelly Kotliar, who lives near the construction site, wrote in a Facebook post that fire trucks and police showed up to in Manorhaven around 10 p.m. Tuesday and stayed for about 90 minutes.

She wrote: "I was sleeping with baby but in my nest cam I noticed an officer rang my doorbell at 11pm, so weird?!"