Police: Cause of Fire Still Unknown; Victim Identification Process Underway

Officials at the Carmel Police Department provided the following update in a press release around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Find more information on the fire—which struck at about 2 a.m. Tuesday and claimed the lives of Larchmont police Capt. Thomas Sullivan, his wife and two teenage daughters—.

The origin of the fire has been determined to have been apparently started on the north side of the front of the residence. The Putnam County Fire Investigation Team at this time has not determined the cause of the fire—further testing and evaluation has to be completed. Samples taken at the scene will be transported to the New York State Police Lab this morning and the sample testing will be requested to be expedited.

Autopsies were performed last night on the four bodies recovered from the fire scene ... All the bodies were severely burned, and dental records are being compared to identify the victims involved.

The fire scene is still being secured by the police department at this time. Interviews, and in some cases more detailed re-interviews, are being conducted by detectives of the Carmel Police Department and during the next several days.
The investigation regarding this tragic fire may take several weeks to be completed .