Deer Park apartment fire caused by resident who accidentally left flammable item on the stove, officials say

Desiree Parrillo returned to her Deer Park apartment Monday after flames tore through neighboring apartments for the second time in three years.

Her unit had filled with smoke but firefighters knocked down her door, sparing the place from any other damage from the fire, caused by a resident accidentally leaving something flammable on the stove, according to town officials.

 As she returned home Sunday, Parrillo, 40, couldn’t bear to walk past the firefighters dousing the blaze. The flames and smoke evoked memories of the last fire at the same Maple Crest Garden Apartments in August 2023, which forced her out of her apartment for 14 months.

"We saw the inferno and there was just a lot of disbelief," Parrillo said, who had been in church when a neighbor called about the blaze. "I couldn't handle it. There are a lot of families here and a lot of our neighbors have young kids and newborn babies."

In the 2023 blaze, about a dozen units were affected, with four destroyed by fire and the others with smoke and water damage. A dozen families were left homeless. Officials have not released a cause from the 2023 fire.

Sunday's fire left 16 of the 56 units either destroyed by fire or damaged from smoke, requiring power and natural gas to be shut off to many of the units, fire officials said. Families in those units were staying at hotels or with relatives. The American Red Cross said it was assisting nine families including 13 adults and 6 children with food, clothing or supplies.  

No residents were injured in either blaze.

Many residents chose to stay in the remaining adjacent units without electricity or hot water.

Up to about 100 firefighters from 12 fire departments arrived to find heavy flames on the first and second floor of the apartment building on Baldwin Place, Deer Park Fire Chief Robert Macaluso said.

One firefighter was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital to be treated for minor burn injuries. The cause of the fire is being investigated by Babylon Town fire marshals and Suffolk County police arson investigators.

Restoration and building crews spent Monday boarding up doors and windows in the charred frame of the wood and brick apartment building.

Belongings from the apartment buildings were piled on the front grass, including appliances like dishwashers, barbecue grills and furniture, along with a lone football.

In the courtyard of the complex on the opposite side, children’s bicycles and toys were outside the blackened building. A wooden box sat in the middle of the courtyard that read, "Deliver to Hogwarts," with no name or address on the Harry Potter collectable.

Karan Sachdeva had to evacuate Sunday with his 18-month-old son, his wife and in-laws after neighbors reported smoke and flames next door. 

"It happened in a couple of minutes. Just imagine if it was in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping," Sachdeva said. ""I'm just thankful and we are blessed."

He retuned to his apartment Monday morning to get his laptop and said he couldn't stand the smell of smoke in his apartment for more than five minutes. He said he opened his windows and hoped to return home in the next week. 

He said he worried about his neighbors who lost their homes.

"I’m just glad I have family here that I can go to," Sachdeva said. "I have never experienced this and it was definitely scary. I feel very sad for people who lost their houses. I don’t know if they have a family."

Newsday's James Carbone contributed to this story. 

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.