East Hampton Mansion Fire: Former Home of Hard Rock Cafe Billionaire Burns to Ground
The home once belonged to Hard Rock Cafe billionaire Peter Morton.
— -- An East Hampton oceanfront mansion burned to the ground due to a massive fire made worse by winds, officials said.
The multimillion-dollar home formerly belonged to Hard Rock Café co-founder and billionaire Peter Morton, according to property records that noted Morton sold the home for nearly $22 million to West End Partners, LLC in 2008.
Over 100 firefighters responded to the blaze on Wednesday afternoon that sent smoke over the beach and caused the house to collapse, East Hampton Village Fire Chief Richard Osterberg, Jr. told Newsday.
"It appears to be accidental," Osterberg said. "There's no reason to believe the fire was set intentionally."
He added the village fire marshal is investigating the cause for the blaze and that an excavator demolished the home after the fire was put out.
A dozen roofers were working on the house before the fire started, a village administrator Rebecca Molinaro said, but only one minor injury suffered by a firefighter was reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.