'Huge, fast' fire guts Lloyd Harbor home

A fire completely engulfed a waterfront home in the Lloyd Harbor section of Huntington on Saturday.

"Most of the house collapsed," Huntington Fire Department Chief Ken Cochrane said. It was a "total loss," he said.

Embers from the two-story home spread fire to the roof and deck of two neighboring homes though those were put out with minimal damage, he said. No one was injured.

The residents of the home at 10 Hawk Dr. were not injured, Cochrane said.

Six fire departments and as many as 85 firefighters fought what Cochrane said was the biggest fire he's seen this year. The call came in about 3:45 p.m. and took three hours to put out. Firefighters spent another hour spraying down hot spots, he said.

Neighbor Faith Lieberman, 64, an artist, said it was a "scary night."

"It was a huge, fast fire," Lieberman said. "My son-in-law thought maybe someone was burning leaves, or barbecuing and within five minutes of that a whole portion of the house just went up."

Their neighbor "has a lot of overhanging trees and then the trees caught on fire," Lieberman said. Embers started small fires on her property that had to be extinguished.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Cochrane said he called in Suffolk County arson investigators because the fire was so large, but not because arson was suspected.