Landlords Face Arraignment After Stony Brook Fire Reveals Illegal Student Housing

The owners of a Stony Brook home are scheduled to be arraigned after a two-alarm fire in early July exposed what investigators say was a dangerous illegal boarding house packed with university students, police and fire officials said.

The fire broke out just after 4 a.m. on July 2, starting inside a bathroom, Suffolk County police said. All occupants escaped without injury before the Setauket and Stony Brook fire departments arrived and brought the blaze under control.

What investigators found afterward drew the attention of the arson squad. The property, a four-bedroom single-family home, had been operating as a 10-bedroom boarding house, according to authorities. Twelve people — most of them Stony Brook University students — were living there at the time of the fire. Officers counted 18 mattresses inside the structure, an indication that additional residents may have been present at other times.

Inspectors found sleeping areas spread across the basement, first floor, second floor and attic. Many of the improvised rooms were numbered and secured with individual locks, suggesting a deliberate arrangement to maximize the number of paying occupants.

Arson squad detectives are continuing to investigate the fire. Investigators noted it was one of at least two fires the arson squad examined in the area within a single day.

Suffolk County authorities said the case is part of an ongoing concern about off-campus student housing that does not meet legal safety standards. Overcrowded single-family homes lacking proper permits, smoke detection systems and fire egress pose significant risks to student tenants, officials have said in similar past cases.

The owners' arraignment was pending as of Thursday morning. No charges had been publicly specified in available reports at the time of publication.