Butter sparks fire that guts Yaphank condo

A woman in Yaphank who left butter unattended in a frying pan while she put on makeup ignited a fire Saturday afternoon that destroyed her condominium, fire officials said.

Winds fanned the flames, spreading the fire throughout the home, said Matt Quinn, Yaphank Fire's chief of department.

"With the high winds, the fire just took off," Quinn said Saturday night.

At about the time of the fire, gusts reached 38 mph at Islip, according to the National Weather Service.

No one was hurt, but the interior of the home was destroyed, he said.

It took some 50 firefighters from departments including Yaphank, Ridge, Brookhaven and Rocky Point about a half-hour to extinguish the blaze, near Hancock Commons and William Floyd Parkway and Colonial Woods Drive, after noon Saturday.

Before the fire department arrived, the woman had returned downstairs to find the fire. She tried throwing the frying pan out the window, but when that failed, she tossed the pan on the floor, and the fire spread to the rest of the kitchen and the living room, Quinn said.

A front door to the condo and a window were open, providing the flames with oxygen from outside, he said.

"She lost pretty much everything, which she is upset about," Quinn said.