Sag Harbor Fire Survivor Ran Out In Just Pajamas and Slippers; Thanks Police Officer Who Saved Him

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Michael Lynch was sound asleep in the predawn hours Friday morning when he heard loud banging on the door — persistent banging that saved his life as a devastating blaze swept through Main Street in Sag Harbor.

Lynch, 49, said he is grateful and wants to thank to the Sag Harbor Village Police Officer Randy Steyert, who police confirmed was the officer who first reported the fire and came to Lynch's aid.

Sag Harbor Village Police Chief AJ McGuire said Steyert has a one year old baby who was up all night; he was awake early and headed to SagTown Coffee, located behind the Compass real estate building.

A female employee of the coffee shop had just opened up; Steyert, McGuire said, got the girl out and dialed 911. Knowing there were apartments upstairs, Steyert headed up and woke Lynch, McGuire said.

"The way that fire took off, conditions went from bad to worse within 20 minutes," he said. "If this had happened an hour earlier, we may have had a fatality."

Lynch said he was roommates with Fred Kumwenda; the pair lived above the real estate building directly to the right of the theater.

It was the officer's persistent banging that saved his life, Lynch said. "I wasn't paying attention at first. I was sound asleep. I thought it was some construction outside. I woke up for a second and went right back to sleep."

When the banging continued, Lynch said he woke up and also heard fire department whistles. "I could see the apartment getting smoke-filled," he said.

Lynch opened the door and headed down the stairs, clad only in pajama bottoms, with nothing on his feet, he said. "The officer was screaming, 'Hurry, hurry!'" he said.

Lynch grabbed slippers and a coat that was hanging on the door and ran out into the icy wind and frigid air.

Lynch, who had just moved into the apartment had, in an ironic twist of fate, just finished moving in his possessions three days before.

He lost everything in the fire — clothes, a computer, his phone, shoes, his wallet — in a blaze so hot it melted his electronics and the tables, Lynch said.

The one thing he prays he can salvage is his mother's rosary beads. "We just lost her a year ago, in October," he said.

But Lynch believes it was his mother, his "guardian angel", with whom he was very close, that saved him.

The one thing he found in his jacket pocket was a keychain, with the words "Love, Mom," in his mother's handwriting, that his sister had made for them after she passed away.

"It's the only thing that I have left of hers," he said.

Lynch has been staying with his sister Maura Lynch since the fire. She said her brother came to her home in just his pajamas, reeking of smoke. "He lost everything," she said.

After the fire, Lynch said he worked two doubles at the Service Station restaurant in East Hampton, where he's employed. Of the fire, he said, "It's not even real yet."

But despite all he's lost, without the heroism of one police officer and the firefighters who came to his rescue, "There'd be a whole different narrative we'd be speaking of today. I wouldn't be speaking of anything."

Lynch also wants to thank a volunteer firefighter who also ran into the blaze, checking every room in the building. "At one point, he was in the front window, and there was smoke pouring out, and I was screaming, 'There's someone up there! Get him out!' They brought a ladder over and he was able to climb out of the building," he said.

To those angels on earth, Lynch is forever thankful. "The debt of gratitude is beyond words," he said.

With his building likely to be demolished Monday, Lynch said he's headed to get a new driver's license, bank cards, and other necessities of daily life that were lost. "I'm going to start piecing things back together," he said.

A Crowdrise page has brought in more than $36,000 for Kumwenda.

And on Monday, a Crowdrise page was created for Lynch: To donate, click here.

Patch photos courtesy of Maura and Michael Lynch.