Local firefighters battle 9-alarm blaze
by Carolyn James PHOTO BY JOE TURNER

Amityville firefighters, along with 8 other surrounding departments, battled a major blaze at a warehouse at 10 Marconi Blvd., Copiague, April 1.The fire, which Amityville Fire Chief Artie Smith said was likely burning inside for several hours, eventually broke through the building's roof.

"When we pulled up, the flames were (coming) out of the roof from one end of the building to the other," said Smith. "We immediately called in three other departments, ladder trucks and eventually two more departments. Amityville was assisted by Massapequa, West Babylon, East Farmingdale, North Amityville, and Lindenhurst. Also called in for overhaul were Wyandanch, Copiague and North Babylon.

Firefighters had the blaze under control within about an hour, but it took another eight hours and a return to the site, to completely extinguish the fire. That was due, in part, to the contents of the building, which is a clothing and rag recycling business, EFF-N-BEE.

"The building was filled with bales of clothing and material," said Smith, whose department returned to the site at 7 p.m. that night to put out a fire that had rekindled in some of the debris in the building.

There was a partial collapse of the commercial structure, but all surrounding buildings and homes were protected from damage. Amityville Village Highway Department responded to the scene to help in the overhaul of the site, and to ensure that all pockets of heat and fire were extinguished.

In all, Smith estimates that a million gallons of water was used to put out the fire. "It was literally running down the street like a river," he said. That placed a burden on the total water supply available. Firefighters also struggled with several propane tank explosions from inside the building, but Smith said that there were no serious injuries. One firefighter sustained a muscle injury and another a small cut to his hand. Neither was hospitalized.

The building is adjacent to NAPCO Security and near the Long Island Railroad tracks. In addition, there are homes nearby. "Protecting those properties from exposure was really what we were concerned with," said Smith, who estimated that approximately 140 volunteers worked at the scene throughout the nine hours.

In addition to the firefighters, Suffolk and Amityville Police, and Amityville Highway crews, Smith said LIPA and Keyspan, as well as the DEC were called to the scene to check the water runoff. Suffolk County Arson was also notified and responded to the scene.

"We did not think it was suspicious but wanted to determine a cause," said Smith.

The Arson squad is still investigating the cause of the blaze and said the building, which is more than 25,000 square feet, was a total loss.

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