North Sea Man Dies In House Fire

John Fahey, a resident of 37 Peconic Bay Avenue in North Sea, died Thursday when fire swept through his house. Mr. Fahey’s age was not available.

Southampton Town Police said they received 911 calls reporting the fire at about 1:15 p.m. The North Sea Fire Department and Town Police responded to the scene and requested help from both the Sag Harbor and Southampton fire departments.

Police said the house was fully engulfed in flames when emergency responders arrived.

Jeanne Claar, who lives next door, said the house is owned by Madeline and John Fahey and that their adult son lived there. She said he kept to himself but “we’d wave and say ‘hello’ when I’d see him cutting the lawn or blowing the leaves.”

Mrs. Claar said she was preoccupied with a family matter when she noticed a neighbor across the street pointing to her neighbor’s house. When she looked out, “all I could see was the blackest smoke I’ve ever seen,” she said, adding that the first responder vehicles and police were already arriving.

Mrs. Claar, who said she was in lower Manhattan on September 11 and whose own house in North Sea burned to the ground in 1964, said she was traumatized by Thursday’s fire.

Police said Mr. Fahey’s body was found in the house as firefighters extinguished the flames.

Southampton Town fire marshals and the Suffolk County Police Department Arson Squad responded to assist Town Police detectives with the investigation.

Fire marshal John Rankin said on Monday that a cause had yet to be determined. “It’s not considered suspicious,” he said, noting that the arson squad was called in because there was a fatality. “We are looking at a lot of different information, some that we know and some that we still need to find out.”