Fire damages historic Milleridge Inn in Jericho

Several areas of the historic Milleridge Inn's main property were significantly damaged by a fire Thursday night, including the bar, an adjacent dining area and an office above the bar, a spokesperson said on Friday.

Staff still need to examine the property following the fire to assess the extent of any other fire or water damage. Milleridge spokesperson Mike Deery said an early review of the property showed no damage to the on-site shopping village, the Carriage House Wine Bar or The Cottage, where weddings are held. "Most importantly to patrons, it's a big wedding venue, people would be concerned about if it's impacting the weddings, and it's not anticipated any would be affected at this time," Deery said.

Fire departments were able to contain the fire, which was reported in a 911 call at 9:34 p.m., before it reached the main property's largest dining area, he said, though additional assessment is required.

The restaurant will be closed while it rebuilds. "We don't know how long it will be interrupted, but it's light season for the facility," Deery said. "The main season starts in the fall, so we’re hopeful that once we get in and see what the full damage is, we're hopeful that we'll be up and running for that."

Nassau Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said the call for the fire came in after the night's storms had died down, but Jericho firefighters responded quickly during heavy rain. "They arrived on scene to find an exterior fire that was making its way up the building of the main building. It got up into the attic and some of the voids," Uttaro said. "They really knocked the fire out and really kept the damage to the exterior of the building."

He described it as an "accidental electrical fire" and said officials will examine if weather was a factor. "The one thing we can tell you is that it's a very old building, and that cedar shake usually goes up like kindling," Uttaro said, adding that the rain likely limited the fire's spread.

Uttaro said about a dozen fire departments responded to a second alarm and had to rip open the walls to make sure the fire hadn't spread. No one was injured in the fire, which was brought under control in about an hour under the command of Jericho Fire Department Chief Kerry J. Ketsoglou.

Butch Yamali, president and owner of the Milleridge Inn, plans to "rebuild and repair what was damaged," he said in an emailed statement. "We are committed to repairing the damage and bringing the Inn back to life. ... The Milleridge has been here since 1672, and we intend to make sure it continues to be here for generations to come."

The statement continued: "The latest fire is another chapter in the remarkable history of a structure that has survived wars, changing generations and previous fires."

The Milleridge Inn dates to 1672, when an original, two-room Quaker home was built on the property, which had been acquired two decades earlier in a trade with the Matinecock. Expanded to become a wayfarer’s inn in the 1800s, the property was eventually acquired by the Miller family — and renamed the Milleridge Inn in 1903, becoming one of Long Island's landmark restaurants before being heavily damaged in a 2014 fire.

That fire temporarily closed the Milleridge, which was sold in 2015 and then resurrected under new management in early 2016.