East Hampton Family Loses House, Dog in Fire

A house fire on Park Street in East Hampton on Saturday, March 8, led to the death of a dog and the relocation of a family to a relative’s house.

A GoFundMe fundraiser to help support the family had raised $25,145 as of Tuesday, far surpassing the listed goal of $5,000.

For East Hampton Fire Chief Duane Forrester, the weekend felt “like a blur,” starting with a house fire in North Sea, battling the blaze in East Hampton — and culminating with a ride to Westhampton Beach to help tame the massive wildfire that drew firefighters from across Long Island.

At around 1 p.m. on Saturday, the chief was among the first on scene at the East Hampton fire, where the department had received a report of smoke from a neighbor.

Before arriving, the chief had heard that a dog was in a kennel toward the back of the otherwise unoccupied house.

“Once we were on scene, our first thing, before the trucks even arrived, myself and my 1st assistant chief, we went around back to the approximate location where the dog kennel was,” Forrester said.

Then, the two firefighters entered the home. Getting the cage out “took several attempts,” because “it was hung up on something.” Eventually, the chief got the dog out of the cage and brought it into the backyard, where East Hampton Town Police waited, ready to perform CPR.

The first responders “weren’t able to save the dog, unfortunately,” the chief said.

Forrester then went around to the front of the house, where tankers and engines were starting to arrive. The firefighters entered through the front of the house, finding that the fire was concentrated in the back, where the chief had retrieved the dog.

After slightly over two hours, the fire was extinguished, and the firefighters did “extensive overhaul,” that is, searching for and extinguishing pockets of hidden fire that could rekindle the blaze.

A town fire marshal then arrived on scene, concluding on Monday, March 10, that the fire started in the electrical wiring of the dishwasher, according to Patrick Derenze, a spokesman for the town.

The house sustained fire damage on the first floor, soot damage on the second floor and water damage in the basement, Derenze said.

Living at the house were Brian Otto, his wife, Emily, and their children, Aubrey and Kyle, 8 and 3, respectively, and their dog, Copper.

Since then, the GoFundMe, posted by Holly Halsey, Emily Otto’s sister, intended to assist the family, who are currently staying with a relative.

“I entirely appreciate it, seeing that I’m a local kid, local family — we still have a lot of friends and a lot of family out here,” said Brian Otto. “I would never ask anybody for money. I understand it’s a gift. It’s just not my nature.”

Brian Otto then added that he was “extremely grateful to the East Hampton Fire Department” and that he “can’t say thank you enough.”

“The biggest thing is that my family is safe,” he said. “It’s all I could ask for.”

As for the dog, Copper was a 4-year-old yellow Lab who was “willing to play with anyone and everyone” and “very obedient and kind.” The dog was “adored by the kids” and “will be missed,” Brian Otto said.

While fighting the Park Street fire on Saturday afternoon, the department received a call requesting a brush truck to help fight the budding forest fire in Westhampton. For the time being, the department had to pass the request along to another department because “again, most of my guys were at that call,” Forrester said, referring to the Park Street fire.

Once finished on Park Street, the firefighters packed up and parked the trucks in the garage. “Then, the call came again for us to go to Westhampton,” the chief said.

There, the firefighters gathered on the Francis S. Gabreski Airport runway, awaiting direction, ultimately being sent to work “outside of the airport, in the woods there,” where the department got to test its new brush truck, which performed “incredibly well.”

Forrester compared the situation to the 1995 wildfires in the Central Pine Barrens, stating that “this time, we had more than enough resources.”

In the woods, the department was “knocking down some hot spots and some small fires and stuff like that,” before being relieved around 7 p.m.

On the way home, the department received word of its “own little brush fire” on Montauk Boulevard, which was mainly “some leaves and some fencing and stuff.”

Forrester said the Montauk Fire Department had a brush truck passing through the area, so the coordinators diverted their truck to help, “and we were able to put that out fairly quickly.”

As part of the busy weekend, earlier in the day on Saturday, the East Hampton Fire Department had conducted a training using a ladder truck on Shelter Island, and the previous night, the department assisted with a structure fire in North Sea, which launched the department’s rapid chain of events.

“That 24 hours was like a blur, like, one call after the other call,” Forrester said. “We got a small break where we were able to eat after the training, before the Park Street call.”