Officials: Fire displaces residents in East Moriches' Walden Pond community

A fire at an adult community complex in East Moriches destroyed "seven or eight" units on Tuesday, displacing a handful of residents, officials said.

Suffolk County fire officials said the Town of Brookhaven fire marshal, Suffolk County police Arson Squad detectives and the American Red Cross were on the scene at the Walden Pond apartments on Walden Court. There were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire was not known.

Fire officials said the fire was reported in a 911 call at 4:06 a.m. Firefighters from East Moriches, Eastport, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Manorville, Center Moriches and Westhampton Beach all responded to the scene, as did the East Moriches Ambulance Company. Firefighters found what was described as "a heavy fire load" with a roof collapse in one of the buildings.

The fire was declared under control at 5:33 a.m., but the scene was still active at about 6:30 a.m., officials said.

Additional details were not immediately available.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”