Islip woman killed in house fire

An Islip woman died Sunday after she was unable to escape a fire in a garage that town officials suspect had been illegally converted into living quarters.

The fire began in the kitchen of the converted garage on Wilson Boulevard.

About 60 firefighters responded to the 8:51 a.m. call, knocking down the blaze in 15 minutes, Assistant Islip Fire Chief Bill Stenger said. No one in the main house was injured. An investigation by Suffolk fire officials is under way.

The woman's name was not immediately available Sunday, as officials said next of kin were being notified. She appeared to be in her late 30s or early 40s, Stenger said.

Firefighters found the woman in an enclosed porch in the back of the garage apartment. "She was found fairly close to the doorway," Stenger said.

The woman was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, where she was pronounced dead.

In June 2010 Islip inspectors visited the property after getting a complaint about an unpermitted pool and illegal shed, said town spokesman Kevin Bonner. At the time, he said, the owner was asked whether the garage was being rented. He said no, and that it was just used as extra living space, Bonner said.

The owner was issued appearance tickets in relation to the pool and shed, Bonner said, and is scheduled in court May 11 to address them. Bonner said he did not have the name of the owner.

A man who answered the phone at the address Sunday hung up on a reporter and did not respond to a subsequent voice mail message.

On Feb. 14, inspectors were again at the house after getting a complaint about an illegal rental, Bonner said. Inspectors, however, found the converted garage had no kitchen or electrical appliances and was in compliance with the certificate of occupancy, Bonner said.

Since that time, he said, a kitchen and electrical appliances were installed, apparent violations of the occupancy certificate and indications of a potentially illegal rental. Bonner said officials won't know for sure until the investigation is complete. He said the initial parts of the probe, which are the responsibility of arson investigators and police, should be finished Monday.