Ten Days Later, Fire Island Begins to Rebuild After Devastating Fire Destroys Businesses; Arson Still Not Ruled Out As A Cause

(All photos: Robert Zash)
 
As the Fire Island Pines sifts through the ashes, we sift through the facts surrounding last week’s devastating fire.
 
It is, without a doubt, the biggest story to come out of Fire Island in years: Monday night’s devastating fire that destroyed businesses along the Fire Island Pines harbor. These businesses included the offices of Bob Howard Real Estate, Pines Harbor Realty, CF LaFountaine and the Jalston clothing boutique along with one home and the gutting of some of the island’s most popular night spots, namely Sip N’ Twirl and The Pavilion. Pictures of the damage have been popping up on Facebook and on blogs all week and show a barely recognizable charred ruin where the buildings once stood.

The response to the fire, which is thought to have started around 9pm, was itself historic, with between 20 and 30 fire departments from across Fire Island and Long Island rushing to the scene. Five members of the Fire Island Pines Volunteer Fire Department were in the area—which was largely shut down for the season—at the time of the blaze. David Seeds, Rob Sperte, Walter Boss, Eddie Candreva and Bo Fridsberg were the first on the scene, joined later by hundreds of other firefighters. It was, according to Gothamist, “the largest response to a fire on Long Island since 1995's Sunrise Fire in the pine barrens.”
 
Though arson officials had suggested the fire started at the charging station for CF LaFountaine’s electric delivery carts, as of Tuesday, a fire investigation team was still unable to determine the actual cause.
 

Initial reports had indicated the fire started at Sip N Twirl, but it is now believe that the blaze ignited in the general area between The Pavilion and The Sip N’ Twirl/LaFountaine building. The plumbing and repair firm also provides propane to homes in the Pines, and it is thought that the explosion of their supply of propane tanks is what escalated the fire to such disastrous proportions. In an email, Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association president Jay Pagano said that the Brookhaven Fire Marshall is considering ultimately deeming the cause “undecided.”
 
The evening’s high winds also carried burning embers across the harbor, engulfing the home of Jean Manuel Pourquet, owner of the harbor front boutique Gostoso. Fortunately, the house was unoccupied at the time, and Gostoso was one of several businesses that were unaffected by the fire. 
 

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Bulldozers were brought in from the mainland last Tuesday to begin the process of demolishing the affected buildings. Event producer Erin Stacy Visslalli reported that the fire actually reignited on Tuesday night, though, thanks to the demolition efforts there was nothing left to burn.
 
Pagano and other business owners including Andrew Kirtzman of Fire Island Pines Ventures have issued statements vowing to "come back" in time for 2012’s summer season. Those efforts may not be the Herculean feat they seem to be, according to an email from fire fighter Rob Sperte that Visslalli shared with us. Sperte claims that the Pavilion’s basic structure is still intact, which will allow the owners to apply for a permit to re-model rather than re-build, a process that could be far lengthier. A re-model makes it much likelier that the Pines’ beloved nightspots could be back up and running in time for the 2012 season.

In addition to this ray of hope, Pagano assures us that he’s received pledges of support from elected officials at the local as well as federal levels. “I have attended meetings with the property owners and Mark Lesko, Brookhaven Town Supervisor, and his staff to map out this assistance.  Mark Lesko could not have been more supportive. He said that the Pines was an incredibly important community in the Town of Brookhaven and that he would do everything to ensure that the Town doesn't delay rebuilding,” Pagano wrote in an email Tuesday. Additionally, Town Councilman Tim Mazzei and newly elected Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone have made similar pledges of assistance. Lesko and Mazzei were scheduled to visit the Pines to assess the damage.
 
Pagano also sends word from the owners of some of the businesses affected by the fire. CF LaFountaine ower Nikki LaFountaine is working around the clock to get her business up and running for 2012. Word is she is still in ownership of the buildings original architectural drawings and is planning a rebuild instead of a redesign. Meanwhile rumor has it that Kirtzman and his Fire Island Pines Ventures partners Matthew Blesso and Seth Weissman are using this opportunity to re-imagine and re-develop their businesses, with a remodel more similar to John Whyte’s original Pavilion  rather than Eric Von Kuersteiner 2007 version. —John Russell

UPDATE: FIP Venture’s Andrew Kirtzman called to let us know he and his team “haven’t made any decisions yet” and are in the very preliminary planning stages as to the future of the Fire Island Pines commercial district and the Pavilion, include what a remodel or a rebuild of the structure might look like. Next Magazine will continue to keep you updated as new develops.