John Street building destroyed in fiery blaze

by Carolyn James

An explosion and roaring fire ripped through the building at 61 John Street, Amityville, on Monday, March 14. Despite the blast and the intensity of the fire, there were no injuries, though extensive property damage occurred.

The call went out at approximatley 10:30 a.m., according to Amityville Village Fire Chief James Juliano. First arriving crews, led by assistant chiefs Arthur Smith, Harold Miller and Russell Sawyer, observed that the building was fully involved. First Engine 114 arrived and used a nearby hydrant extending two two and a half inch hoses to attack the blaze. Within 15-20 minutes, it was brought under control.

The building housed Amity Auto Repair, a business owned by local resident and firefighter Jimmy Kay. Fire officials and other sources said that the fire started while employees of the business were working on two vehicles in the shop. Gasoline was spilled on the floor and one of the employees went to get Speedy Dry. Another opened a door to provide ventilation. Instead, a wind swept in and carried the fumes to the building’s heating unit where they erupted and caused a minor blast. Kay told fire officials that everyone was told to immediately evacuate the building just before the blast. "We could feel the heat on our backs and we ran out," he said.

Amityville was assisted by Copiague, North Amityville and Massapequa fire departments with Copiague providing a FAST unit to ensure help in the event of a building collapse and Massapequa and North Amityville providing equipment and additional manpower.

Firefighters battle blaze at John Street Auto Repair under dangerous conditions.

"It’s nice to know they are close by," said Juliano of the assistance the department received. "Especially during a daytime fire like that when it’s difficult getting a large number of people out."

In all, the department had approximately 100 personnel on hand to fight the fire.

"We are very grateful to the Amityville Fire Department and the other departments who arrived within two minutes of our call," said Kay. "They did an outstanding job, and we are glad no one was hurt. You can always put up a new building but you can't bring back a life."

The building and vehicles inside were totally destroyed. In addition, two vehicles in a used car lot adjacent to 61 John Street were damaged. Firefighters also evacuated people from another nearby building.

"Its a fuel company and they had trucks there and acetylene tanks, so we didn’t want to take any chances," said Juliano. "Our guys did a great job, as usual, especially considering how hot a fire it was."