Bellport Dunkin owner dies in house fire at 32

Like her father before her, Tanya Bathija hoped to build an empire. She died earlier today at the age of 32 in a Dix Hills house fire. Her dog Xena also died.

Suffolk County Police Second Precinct officers responded to 1365 Carlls Straight Path at 2:53 a.m. after a 911 caller reported a fire at the location. Two patrol officers and a sergeant attempted to enter the cottage but were repelled by the fire. They were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.

Earlier this year, in April, The Bellport community, the Greater Patchogue and Bellport Chamber of Commerce, and various elected officials welcomed the young businesswoman’s eighth Dunkin’ location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Since childhood, Bathija was accustomed to coffee-fueled grand openings like the one she hosted at 1669 Montauk Highway. Her father, Gobind “Ben” Bathija, a longtime developer, opened his first of 14 Dunkin’ locations at the turn of the century.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Bathija always admired her father’s entrepreneurial ambition. In school, when teachers inquired about her dreams, she would say, “I want to take over Long Island, like my dad.”

As his daughter came of age, the senior Bathija began leasing his established Dunkin’ locations and helped his middle child own and operate her own. In 2008, the father-daughter franchisee duo opened the young woman’s first three Dunkin’ locations in Oakdale, Sayville, and Blue Point.

“My accomplishments are their accomplishments,” Bathija said during an interview in April. “I am because of them. Without them, there’s no success.”

With her father and her mother, Sonia Bathija, entering retirement, Tanya Bathija was poised to take the wheel of her family’s decades-long franchise campaign. Tanya Bathija said her father is not the only patriarch who instilled in her unyielding dedication to one’s family and business vision. She imagines herself a Michael Corleone, minus the drugs and violence.

Before dunking herself into the coffee game, Bathija mirrored another one of her father’s previous ventures: garments. While her father manufactured clothes in America, Bathija trekked to India to design summer and spring collections, which she said three designers bought.

Bathija, who studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, designed American-style clothing made from Indian fabrics. Her fashion fusion followed her into her most recent venture she considers a hobby: modeling and pageantry.

Last year, Bathija also won the United States National Pageant’s Miss New York title. Next month, she will head to Texas to compete for the title of Miss United States. For her shot at the national crown, she designed three patriotic outfits from Indian georgette fabric: a red swimsuit, a white interview gown, and a blue evening gown.

A preliminary investigation has determined the cause of the fire to be non-criminal in nature.