Dog Missing After Fire Guts LI Home On Memorial Day Weekend

WATER MILL, NY — A dog remains missing after a massive fire gutted a Water Mill home Sunday afternoon — with billowing smoke seen as far away as the North Fork, officials said.

According to Chris Brenner, public information officer for the Southampton Fire Department, the fire broke out at 2:43 p.m. at a home on Farmstead Lane off Blank Lane.

The family who resides in the house was not home; a neighbor called in the blaze, Brenner said.

"It was reported that there was a dog inside," he said. "As of Sunday, no dog had been found."

The possibility exists that the dog — whose breed and size was not immediately known — might have somehow escaped, he said.

The North Sea, Bridgehampton, Hampton Bays, Sag Harbor, East Hampton and East Quogue Fire Departments responded to the scene; the Southampton Volunteer Ambulance and Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance also responded for firefighter assessment, he said.

One fireman was transported to the hospital with heat exhaustion, Brenner said. Southampton Fire Chief Manny Escobar was in charge of the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.