Update: Fire at 84 Lumber considered ‘suspicious,’ under investigation as possible arson, police say

Yesterday’s fire at a vacant Main Street lumberyard is now considered “suspicious in nature” by police and is under investigation.

A fire at the former 84 Lumber building on West Main Street yesterday took three local fire departments nearly an hour to put out.

Firefighters found heavy smoke pouring out of the building when they arrived on scene, but they had trouble gaining access to the building due to concrete barriers that had been placed in front of the building’s entrances, according to Riverhead Fire Department First Assistant Chief Kevin Brooks.

Firefighters needed to cut through the exterior wall of the burning structure in three different locations to gain access, Brooks said. The fire department also called in pay loaders from the Riverhead Highway Department to remove the concrete barriers.

What they found inside was an “extremely hot fire,” Brooks said – so hot that it bent a steal I-beam inside the building.

“It would have taken 2,800 degrees to bend that,” Brooks said in an interview this morning.

The vacant structure is made of concrete, steel and tin, Brooks said. Much of the fire seemed to have been fueled by either interior offices or materials inside, which Brooks said may have been left over from 84 Lumber before they closed their Riverhead location in 2012.

Firefighters cut holes in the roof to vent the heat and smoke.

Police believe the building was unoccupied, and no one was injured in the incident.

Riverhead Fire Marshall and the Suffolk County Arson Squad both responded to the fire, which broke out at about 2:24 p.m., according to police. Riverhead Fire Department called in Flanders and Jamesport fire departments for mutual aid, and a rapid intervention team from Ridge Fire Department stood by on the scene.

Riverhead Police are now investigating the fire as “suspicious.” Police request anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the area at that time or who has information regarding this incident to contact Riverhead Police Detective Division at 631-727-4500.