Jan 27, 2012 5:52 PM
UPDATE 5:27 p.m.
Reached by phone separately Friday afternoon, Michael Polacco and Paul H. Fried, the owners of the Water Mill mansion, both said they were shocked by the fire.“I don’t know what to think. I’m just overwhelmed. I am grief-stricken and I’m so saddened that this beautiful property is not standing,” said Mr. Fried.
“I’ve been a resident of the Hamptons in one way or another for a decade, and I’ve never seen anything like this, you know. Never,” said Mr. Fried. He said he was in East Hampton at the time of the fire, but that he could not speak further, as he was on his way to meet with insurance representatives. He did not immediately return a later call.
Meanwhile, Mr. Polacco said he was in Manhattan, where he... more
Thank you to all the responders, a fine effort indeed.
Interesting stats:
Purchase Price (in May, 2007) - - - - - - $$1.7M
Assessed Value (4&1/2 yrs, later) - - - - $$3.5M
Insurance Coverage - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ???????
We are currently working directly with the Town Fire Marshal and the Insurance Company to determine the exact origin and cause. At this time it has been deemed sudden and accidental however additional investigation is ...more required to pinpoint the exact cause of loss.
Also, to clear up some of the concern, the house was only partially completed when it was purchased in 2007. It was finished with 10,000 sf of livable space with 10 bedrooms and 11.5 bathrooms and then was assessed by the town at its current value. As for it being for sale since 2009 a quick click to zillow.com will show hundreds of houses in the Hampton's on the market since 2008/2009.
Again, we would like to get back to the point that actually matters and thank all of the firefighters for a great job and all of the support staff that kept the neighboring houses and everyone involved safe.
I believe what you are referring to is that one of the homeowners, upon first learning of the fire, drove to the house and tried to get into the scene but was blocked, for his protection. At this time he was distraught and was understandably upset but this was in no way directed at any of the volunteers.
Or, did they have such a system?
EXACTLY.
The house burned because it was fully in flames before the fire departments were called. Firefighters worked their butts off control the fire and to save the adjoining homes. I think the owners of those homes would say that it was well worth the effort and cost.
The reason it was worth the cost is because the firefighters that responded did an EXCELLENT job in containing the fire to the affected property. At one point the fire nipped the house to the left (north) and they immediately responded by entering into the property and dousing the would-be flame.
Had they not been there or done the job that they did the damage would have been catastrophic for the neighboring houses.
The homeowners house was empty at ...more the time but the surrounding ones were not. Without their help this could have been a very different outcome.
Thank you to the firefighters who protected the neighboring homes. This fire could have destroyed more homes and taken lives.
Hopefully, the Town will now hold these owners and similiar property owners in this neighborhood accountable for code violations.
If I had enough money to rent a $3m+ home, I would probably throw a party, too. And, the local town officials, etc have enough control ...more over our lives out here.. If someone wants to rent their house, they should be allowed to rent it for whatever term they feel. Even the federal government allows you to rent your house up to two weeks, tax free. The last thing we need is some other town something or rather driving around looking for stuff to do all day.
Transient renters, give me a break, if you're renting, one could argue you're transient regardless of how long you stay there.
Let alone the fact that insurance companies are more guilty than all homeowners looking to cash out combined. Let them pay out for once...
2009 NY Post.
say a person were to rent out a property with no smoke detectors and unsecured swimming pool...if a 17 year old were to become inebriated and have an accident wouldn't the renter be charged with criminal negligence? Who is responsible?
There was a small fire in the house across the street from me and the adjusters called my house to get information before we even knew anything was going on and at least two minutes before the first fire truck arrived. This was in the pre-computer age - all they needed was a police scanner and a reverse phone book.
How can someone not have smoke detectors? Absurd.
A monitored fire system is connected to the phone system and calls out to a central station when an alarm goes off.
It's most likely that there were electricians smokes in the house and since no one was there,there was no way to report the fire until the house was fully engaged.
Smoke detectors are required ...more in each bedroom and in common areas such as hallways. hr placement varies,but should be (in a large room) no more than 25 feet apart,with overlapping coverage.Smokes should not be within 12 inches of any corner where a wall meets an ceiling or another wall.There should be at least one in the basement and if possible,one in any large attic area.
i really am laughing out loud, this is great stuff, keep it up. b y the way, i am vince, vince clortho, keymaser of gozer... are you the gatekeeper? wait for the sign and then all prisoners will be released.. you will perish in flames.
msRainbow, ...more do you now or have you ever fabricated and worn a hat made out of tinfoil? just asking.
you're saying it's the home owners that can't cover their mortgages because they relied on the income from group renting their houses that are to blame? They are pampered and felt entitled to ill gotten rental income and are now boo-hooing and lighting their houses on fire?
i don't know..... but it's sounding a little better.
I think it's homeless peoples faults for not renting and buying houses. didn't the government just bail out homeless people to the tune of 700 billion ...more dollars? don't tell me that the economy is so bad that even homeless people don't have money anymore.
i have no doubt that there'll be a string of lightning strikes and plenty of faulty wiring to go around but to blame just 2 guys or defenseless rich people is absurd.
Yes, there are people out there who will be desperate and do desperate things inorder ...more to save their investment because of this law. Dan's Paper reported in Novement that a RECORD # of house fires have occurred in the Hamptons in the past year. Hmmm .... any connection?
Entitled...yes, when a small majority create laws that only benefit themselves and then tax the same people, you can't expect to recieve respect.
Try getting a job, worry about supplementary income afterwards. You are a slumlord, the beast that is greatly destroying our town. You should be ashamed for asking for sympathy for such a bs cause.