5 Killed in Riverhead House Fire

Five people were killed when a historic three-story, multi-family home in Riverhead caught fire late night on November 17, authorities said.

Riverhead Town Police officers and firefighters from multiple fire departments responded to the blaze 46 East 2nd Street at 10:38 p.m., but when the flames were extinguished, five people were found dead on the third floor, Suffolk County police said. Five other residents escaped unharmed. 

As firefighters attempted to enter to the 7,000-square-foot home, the third floor collapsed onto the floor below it, according to the Riverhead Fire Department. A Victorian built in 1907, the house was part of the town’s historic district.

The victims were identified as Zonia Dinora Rivera Mendoza, her son and daughter, Carlos Cífrelo Penate Rivera and Andrea Isamar Gonzalez Rivera, and two nephews, Carlos Alberto Ramos Aguirre and Douglas Edgardo Rivera Aguirre.

The Suffolk County Police Arson Squad and Homicide Squad are investigating the cause of the fire, which a preliminary probe has determined to be non-criminal in nature.