More than 50 people—including three families forced to temporarily move into a hotel—were evacuated from an East Northport building after a fire ripped through Friday afternoon.
Suffolk County police said the blaze at the Larkfield Road commercial building, which is also connected to residential apartments, started in the rear work area of Vacuum Cleaners Sales and Service around 3 p.m.
Three families—eight people in four apartments—were relocated by the Red Cross to the Hampton Inn in Commack, police said. Forty-two other residents were temporarily moved to a Salvation Army shelter until electricity and heat were restored to their apartments. The temperature was in the teens during much of the day Friday.
In total, 52 residents were evacuated, police said.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire, but it doesn’t appear to be criminal, police said. Nobody was injured.
