Two years after a devastating fire in the Hamptons killed two sisters, the owners of the short-term rental property pleaded guilty to charges related to the blaze.

This week, Peter Miller pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter, a Class E felony that carries a sentence of up to eight years in prison and fines under the New York State Penal Code. Pamela Miller pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison. They were arrested last week and are due back in court in November, Patch reported.

The fire occurred in the early hours of one day in early August 2022, killing 21-year-old Jillian Wiener and 19-year-old Lindsay Wiener.

The short-term rental was widely advertised online, and the family of five from Maryland decided to vacation there after their father was diagnosed with cancer. On the night of the fire, they tried using an outdoor charcoal grill, but it failed to cook the food, according to the Suffolk County district attorney. Then a fire broke out overnight in the outdoor kitchen.

The parents escaped the fire, as did their son, who jumped from a second-story window to escape the intense heat. The father, who died earlier this year, tried to go back and save his daughters, but suffered burns to his feet and was forced out of the house by the fire.

When the emergency services arrived on the scene, the house was already on fire. The sisters were found unconscious and pronounced dead in the hospital, officials said.

The short-term rental hosts were each charged with 29 building code violations. Allegations included building an outdoor kitchen without a permit, dangerous electrical wiring, non-functioning fire alarms – none were reportedly set off during the incident – and failure to apply for and obtain a rental permit.

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“We take all matters related to housing regulations very seriously because they are critical to public safety,” the Suffolk County District Attorney said in a statement. “If you own a rental property, you have an obligation to ensure it is safe.”

The homeowners’ lawyer did not comment on the guilty pleas.

— Holden Walter Warner