A fire has ravaged the roof of publishing heiress Anne Hearst’s mansion in the Hamptons, with 10 fire departments working to extinguish the inferno which started in a second floor bedroom closet behind a gas fireplace.
Emergency services were alerted to the hillside estate inferno around 8.32am Saturday but it took until 11.35am to put out the flames because there are no fire hydrants by the 5,000 square foot home worth $4million and they struggled to manoeuver the narrow path leading up the large property.
It’s not clear whether Hearst and her novelist husband Jay McInerney were at home known as Ashgrove Farm, which is also home to an emu, wallaby, dogs and a parrot. But two cats and a substantial amount of artwork was rescued.
It’s unclear what pieces were saved but the couple has spoken previously about having mantelpieces once meant for the California San Simeon home Heart’s publishing magnate grandfather William Rudolph Hearst.
Anne Hearst’s mansion in the Hamptons was ravaged by a fire Saturday morning
Emergency services were alerted to the hillside estate inferno around 8.32am Saturday but it took until 11.35am to put out the flames because there are no fire hydrants
It’s not clear whether Hearst and her novelist husband Jay McInerney were at home known as Ashgrove Farm
The mansion which McInerney has said they jokingly refer to as Anne Simeon, is based in the Water Mill hamlet and Bridgehampton Chief Mark Balserus said he arrived to find ‘a pretty substantial haze in the house’.
‘You could see visible fire in one of the walls, going up, leading to the attic space,’ Balserus told the East Hampton Star said.
‘It had been going for a long time before we got called, because supposedly they had smelled smoke around 7 o’clock this morning when they woke up — that’s what they told police.’
The chief said they made ‘an aggressive push’ but ‘there was still so much fire in the ceiling’ before it eventually broke through the roof.
Firefighters from nearly all departments along the South Fork hauled thousands of gallons of water from the nearest hydrant more than a mile away from the narrow Little Noyac Path.
But trucks were forced to rotate in an out of the area as firefighters laid hose 500 feet down the driveway.
The nearest fire hydrant was a mile away and firetrucks went back and forth to collect thousands of gallons of water
Fire crew said: ‘It had been going for a long time before we got called, because supposedly they had smelled smoke around 7 o’clock this morning when they woke up’
Fire chief said they made ‘an aggressive push’ but ‘there was still so much fire in the ceiling’
10 fire teams had to rotate around the property to put out the flames because the path leading up to the home was too narrow
The emergency teams said they struggled to tackle flames due to the sheer size of the home
‘You could see visible fire in one of the walls, going up, leading to the attic space,’ a fire chief said
The fire reportedly started in a second floor bedroom closet behind a gas fireplace
They said they struggled to tackle flames due to the sheer size of the home.
‘It’s a huge house,’ Chief Balserus said. ‘We did use a lot of manpower for overhaul and making sure all the spots were out.’
However emergency services said everyone inside the property got out okay and foul play was not suspected.
‘Everyone got out of the house safely,’ Southampton Police Sgt. Michael Burns told the New York Post. He was joined by firefighters from Bridgehampton, North Sea, Amagansett, East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Flanders, Eastport and Montauk.
The main part of the property was destroyed as well as the roof of the second floor however the staff quarters on the north side was undamaged.
‘If you went into that piece of the house you would never know there was a fire there,’ Chief Balserus added.
Hearst and her husband were forced to delay a trip to Turks and Caicos due to the inferno.
But the family was relieved to learn dozens of valuable art pieces had been rescued on the morning they were due to go on vacation.
‘They did an excellent job saving it,’ fire marshal Brian Williams said. ‘The homeowner was very happy we saved it.’
10 fire teams had to rotate around the property to put out the flames because the path leading up to the home was too narrow