Multiple people displaced after fire at Coram apartment complex
Suffolk fire officials tell News 12 it took an hour and a half for firefighters to get the flames under control.
A total of 21 people were displaced after a fire tore through an apartment complex in Coram Sunday night.
Firefighters say the blaze broke out the Fairfield Apartment Complex on Townhouse Drive and took about 90 minutes to bring under control. Four of the eight units in the building were damaged.
Residents say the fire spread quickly, sparking panic throughout the neighborhood.
“I ran outside. I saw the blazes, people screaming, and then I saw all the fire trucks come,” said Suzanne Jennison, who lives nearby.
Jennison says she feared the fire would continue spreading to nearby homes.
“I was afraid it would move down. I’m not that far away from it. I saw it spread from one house to the next,” she said.
Officials say one resident was injured but declined to be taken to the hospital.
According to the Brookhaven Town Fire Marshal, the fire started in a garage and spread through the building. Investigators say the apartment complex does not have automatic fire sprinklers, and they were not required at the time the building was constructed. The fire marshal also says the building’s alarm system does not automatically notify first responders.
The Coram Fire Department says the fire is not considered suspicious. Several possible causes remain under investigation.
News 12 has reached out to Fairfield Properties regarding the fire marshal’s comments and is awaiting a response.
