A massive house fire that broke out in Bay Shore on Long Island early Thursday morning spread to two neighboring homes, killing one person and injuring another, authorities said.
The blaze began around 1:30 a.m. at a home on North Windsor Avenue in Bay Shore, Suffolk County police told the Daily News. The flames quickly spread to two other residences on the same street.
According to police, three people were inside the home where the fire began.
A section of that house collapsed, killing one adult female. Another victim, an adult male, was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. A third person, an adult male, was not injured in the fire, according to police.
The woman’s identity is pending confirmation by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.
The two other homes suffered “severe damage,” News12 Long Island reported. No injury was reported in those residences, police said.
Four adults and one child have been displaced, a Red Cross spokesperson told WABC.
Witnesses said windy conditions fueled the heavy flames, which quickly spread to the neighboring homes.
“The flames were ridiculous and it was so windy it just kept coming,” one neighbor told News12. “We were getting embers in our backyard.”
Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad and Arson Section detectives are investigating the cause of the fire, which “does not appear to be criminal in nature at this time,” officials told The News.