'We're Very Fortunate' Coram Fire Displacing 21 'Happened At The Hour That It Did': Brookhaven Fire Marshal

CORAM, NY — Investigators are looking at "a couple of different scenarios" for the cause of the blaze that tore into the Fairfield Properties apartment complex in Coram on Sunday night, leaving 21 people without homes, Brookhaven Town Fire Marshal Christopher Mehrman said.

He declined to release any further information about the cause.

Patch has reached out to Fairfield Properties for comment.

The fire started at around 9:30 p.m., and "a large volume of the fire" was witnessed by the first fire crews on the scene, according to Mehrman.

It took about nine departments an hour and a half to extinguish, damaged four of the eight units in one building the Coram Fire Department said.

Due to fire damage in the four units, and to services in the building like electricity, water, and the fire alarm system, which affected the entire building, the structure was deemed "unsafe to occupy," according to Mehrman.

Mehrman noted that the building did not have a sprinkler system because it was constructed in the 1990s, when it was not a code requirement of the state's Uniform Fire Prevention Building Code, "but, if was built using today's codes, it would."

In cases where there is a fire at units constructed before the code change and more than 50 percent are damaged, the town would ask the builder to rebuild the units to the present code, requiring sprinklers, he said.

But that is not the case here.

Mehrman could not be certain when the code changed, requiring apartment complexes to install sprinklers.

The building was also not required to have a fire alarm that automatically notifies a central monitoring system, which would, in turn, alert the fire department. Instead, it had an audible alarm that relies on residents to call 911.

There were no code violations "as far as the Division of Fire Prevention that led to the fire in any way," Mehrman explained.

"The fire launch system worked appropriately to the best of our knowledge," he said. "The people did call the fire department. The device did activate — all those things, so that all worked as a design."

"The unfortunate thing is, if those buildings were built today, that fire probably wouldn't have gotten out of the garage," he said. "Yes, there would have been sprinkle ahead in there that would have extinguished the fire."

The fire is still believed to have started in a garage, and its cause remains non-suspicious in nature.

If there is any lesson in this fire, Meherman said residents should be aware of where they are living.

And, if they happen to be living in a multiple residence-type location, they need to be ready to call the fire department and leave once the fire alarm sounds.

"Don't take any chances," he said. "We're very fortunate that this fire happened at the hour that it did. You know if it happened in the middle of the night, I fear that things could have been a lot worse."

Around 12 different agencies, including Suffolk County Arson Squad detectives, Selden, Terryville, Middle Island, Ridge, Gordon Heights, Mount Sinai, Medford, and Miller Place, as well as Port Jefferson Volunteer Ambulance responded to the scene.

One resident of the complex was also hurt, but refused to be taken to the hospital, Mehrman said.

Volunteers from the American Red Cross' Long Island Disaster Action Team registered 15 households, including at least one child, for emergency assistance, including financial aid, a spokeswoman said.

At least two fundraisers have been posted to GoFundMe for one family that lost all of their belongings, including a car.

"Their home — where memories were made, holidays were celebrated, and everyday life happened — has been badly damaged, along with a vehicle. So many personal belongings, keepsakes, and essentials were lost, and the reality of starting over is heartbreaking," one organizer wrote.

So far, the fundraiser has accumulated close to $9,000.