January 4, 2011 0051 hours. 11 Juliet Lane, Northport firefighters arrived to find heavy fire in the house. Timothy Salsone was found deceased on a bed in the master bedroom. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Suffolk Homicide and Arson Detectives investigate.
From Newsday January 4, 2011
A Fort Salonga house fire Tuesday morning killed one man before dozens of firefighters brought the blaze under control, Suffolk County police and fire officials said.
The cause of the fire that killed Timothy Salsone, 51, on Juliet Lane remains under investigation, police said. But police don’t believe that Salsone’s death was a homicide, said Det. Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky, commanding officer of the homicide unit.
Salsone had been the target of an order of protection obtained by his live-in girlfriend after police responded last week to the home they shared, Suffolk County police said Tuesday.
On Dec. 31, Salsone’s girlfriend, Alison Kokell McNally, 45, who owned the home on Juliet Lane, made a complaint against Salsone that alleged harassment, police said.
No charges were filed, and the officers who responded to the New Year’s Eve call advised Kokell McNally to obtain an order of protection from Suffolk County Court. She secured the protection order on Monday, Pelkofsky said.
It was unclear Tuesday whether the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department ever served Salsone with the order of protection.
Police made previous visits to the home before Dec. 31. The reason for those police calls was being investigated Tuesday.
Salsone was the only person home when the fire began, Pelkofsky said.
“I don’t believe it had anything to do with a cigarette,” Pelkofsky said. “We’re looking to see if it was a reckless act or accidental.”
A woman who picked through the smoldering rubble outside the home’s garage declined to comment Tuesday.
It took about 50 firefighters to control the flames, Suffolk County police and fire officials said. A resident of Juliet Lane called police to report the fire about 12:50 a.m.
Police and firefighters found Salsone on a bed in the master bedroom.
Salsone was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.
Suffolk homicide and arson squad detectives are investigating, police said.
“What a terrible thing to have happened, especially this time of year,” said Anne-Marie Austin, a Juliet Lane resident, Tuesday.
Kim Alexander, who lives across the street, said she woke up, looked out the window and could see “flames shooting out the side of the house.”
She said her husband ran to the front door of the burning house and knocked, but no one answered
With Gary Dymski
View story on Northport Patch here:
https://patch.com/new-york/northport/house-destroyed-following-am-fire
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