Big Fire at Hilltop Acres

Man, the fire siren sounded 3 different times yesterday in Sag Harbor and my dogs were pissing and moaning about the sound. Must of been a busy day. It got me thinking about some big fires in Sag Harbor's past. One was Hilltop Acre's. One Saturday evening in the fall of 1970 around 6pm, the fire whistle went off in Sag Harbor. I had a scanner at the time and turned it to the fire frequency, where the dispatcher was reporting a fire at Hilltop Acres on Brick Kiln Road on the outskirts of Sag Harbor. It was a old hotel, that while remaining open throughout the 1960's, had started to fall into disrepair. It had recently been purchased by a local family who were renovating the place. They had been painting rooms there all day. I immediately drove up there. No fire trucks had arrived yet, but some firemen in private cars were already there. What hit me was the heat. I was standing on Brick Kiln and the heat was so intense it burned my face, 100 feet away. Every room on each floor was ablaze and the fire alarm had only sounded 5 minutes earlier. I member one fireman had parked a convertible near my car and the cinders had already burned a hole in his cloth top. At this point I decided to spit the scene, not wanting to get stuck there when the trucks arrived. The hotel was located high on a hill, and as I drove down to Long Beach, sitting in my car, I could get a spectacular view to the building, fully engulfed. The next morning Sunday I returned to the site and nothing was left but a smouldering foundation. I don't remember if officials ever found a cause of the fire. A couple of private residences sit on the site today. A photo of Hilltop Acre's also known as the Seaview House is listed below. I will post other fire stories in the future!

Hilltop Acres, AKA Seaview House