Officials: 10 people escape fire that destroyed mobile home in Riverhead

Update (12:36 p.m.): 

Riverhead Town Fire Marshal David Andruszkiewicz, who was investigating the scene, said there were 10 people inside the mobile home at the time of the fire.

“It was a stove fire,” he said. “We can’t be specific where in the stove, but we bring the origin back to the stove.”

He added that he does not believe the renter had insurance on the property.

Original Story:

A stove fire that broke out around 1:30 a.m. destroyed a mobile home and left a family with four young children homeless.

Fifty firefighters arrived on the scene, off Harrison Avenue in Riverhead, to battle the blaze that is believed to have started in the kitchen, according to Riverhead Fire Chief Peter Jackman.

“When myself and Chief Joe Hartmann pulled up, it was fully involved,” Mr. Jackman said. “You could see the fire right out the front door.”

He added that he saved a lot of the contents of the home. When firefighters arrived, all people involved had been evacuated. There were no reported injuries, according to Mr. Jackman.

“Everything went actually pretty smoothly, for a trailer fire,” he said.

James Boyd, caretaker of the property, said that he heard his dog barking when the fire broke out, but he remained in bed.

“We told them to reach out to the Catholic charities because they lost everything,” he said.

Mr. Jackman said firefighters cleared the area around 3:15 a.m.

The owner of the property could not immediately be reached for comment.

Photo caption: Inside the trailer that caught fire off Harrison Avenue. (Rachel Siford photo)