Raging Fire Engulfs LI Complex, High Winds Fan Flames

A wind-driven fire engulfed a luxury apartment complex on Long Island Saturday night, requiring assistance from at least 10 different departments.

Suffolk County Fire confirmed the initial reports of an apartment fire at the Avalon Court complex in Melville just after 6 p.m. As of 8 p.m., the fire was still burning, though there were no immediate reports of injuries. 

Gusty winds helped fuel the flames; data from Storm Team 4 show winds were blowing at 15 miles per hour in the region at the time. Photos from the scene showed heavy flames pouring out from under the roof. 

According to the website of property owner AvalonBay Communities, apartments in the development start at nearly $2,700 a month for a one-bedroom unit, rising to nearly $4,000 for three bedrooms. Property managers on scene declined to comment on the fire. 

It was the third major fire at an AvalonBay apartment complex in the tri-state region in just over four years.

In Jan. 2015, an enormous blaze at the Avalon on the Hudson complex in Edgewater, New Jersey reduced more than 200 apartments to rubble. (That complex had also burned to the ground in 2000 while it was under construction.)

Two years later, in Feb. 2017, a six-alarm fire destroyed another 200 units at an Avalon complex under construction in Maplewood, NJ. 

Both fires were ultimately ruled accidental. 

Photo Credit: Stringer News Service

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