Update: Nov. 23, 2015

Students who lived on the wing of O’Neill College where Saturday’s fire occurred are being temporarily relocated and reassigned to different spaces.

One hundred and fourteen residents of the wing started being relocated Sunday night, Alida Almonte, the media relations manager for Stony Brook University, said in an email on Monday.

“Students are being moved to existing spaces on campus, mostly in Graduate spaces where there is currently no active waiting list,” Almonte said.

Residents of the F and G wings of O’Neill College were allowed back into the building Sunday evening.

Residents of the E wing — except on E-1, where the fire occurred — could only go back to retrieve essential items with an escort Sunday night. Residents of E-1 had to wait to retrieve their essential items on Monday.

“Return to assigned spaces is uncertain until we can procure and install replacement doors that were damaged as part of the fire department response Saturday evening,” Almonte said.

Some students have already left campus for the Thanksgiving break and will be reassigned spaces as they return, Almonte said.


The total cost of damage and the cause of the fire are still unknown.

More information can be found on the Division of Campus Residences website.

Original story:

The University Police Department and fire marshals responded to a fire in the E wing of O’Neill College on Saturday evening.

The fire started around 7 p.m., and the flames could be seen burning through the window of a second-floor dorm room.


Local fire departments from Setauket, Port Jefferson, Centereach, St. James and Nesconset also responded and extinguished the fire around 7:20 p.m. before throwing the destroyed contents of the room out onto the lawn below.

Students in O’Neill College evacuated the building and waited in Irving College next door.

There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, UPD Assistant Chief Eric Olsen said in an email.

David Vertsberger contributed reporting to this story.