Sisters, ages 21 and 19, killed after vacation home catches fire, NY officials say

Two sisters were killed after they were unable to escape a fire at their family’s vacation home in the Hamptons, New York officials say.

The fire at the Southampton home started early in the morning on Wednesday, Aug. 3, as the Wiener family was sleeping. Lewis Wiener, the 60-year-old father, woke to the sound of glass breaking and yelled for the family to get out of the home, the Southampton Town Police Department said in a news release

The father and his wife, 52-year-old Alisa Wiener, both escaped from the first floor, where they were sleeping. Their son, 23-year-old Zachary Wiener, escaped out of a second-story window, police said.

But the daughters, 21-year-old Jillian Wiener and 19-year-old Lindsay Wiener, could not escape, according to police. The father tried to get back in the house, but the flames blocked him, police said in a news release.

Firefighters arrived to find the home “fully engulfed,” and they pulled the two sisters out of the home.

CPR was performed on the sisters, but they were pronounced dead at a Southampton hospital, police said. The three other family members were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The family had been vacationing from Potomac, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Lewis Wiener is the president of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, and they shared the news Wednesday with “heartbreaking sadness.”

“The world has lost two beautiful lights today, and we are heartbroken,” the congregation said. “Through their leadership and service, acts of kindness and friendship, the Wiener family has touched so many lives at Washington Hebrew.”

The sisters both graduated from Holton-Arms School for Girls in Bethesda, Maryland, according to reports. In a statement to WTOP, the school said the sisters were “were warm, engaged members of the Holton community who positively impacted both their classes and the larger community.”

Jillian Wiener attended the University of Michigan and Linsday Wiener was a student at Tulane University, WRC reported.

“Everybody in the neighborhood knows them, everybody in the neighborhood loves them,” Mark Kilner, a close friend, told WJLA. “They are the salt of the earth, they are the most generous, thoughtful, loving, helpful people I know.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The funeral service for the sisters will take place Monday, Aug. 8, at Washington Hebrew Congregation.

This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 8:46 AM with the headline "Sisters, ages 21 and 19, killed after vacation home catches fire, NY officials say."