EMFD joins battle at Glen Cove fire

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The East Meadow Fire Department joined with more than 30 other fire departments, as well as units from the FDNY Marine Bureau, at 1:25 a.m. on the morning of March 12 in a massive mutual aid response to assist the Glen Cove Fire Department in an effort to gain control of a monstrous fire that ripped through a plumbing supply warehouse.

The fire at Cove Plumbing Supply Co. at 26 Morris Ave. started around 10:30 p.m. As the battle raged on, one alarm after another was struck, bringing in a widespread fire department response edging closer to the boundary of East Meadow. Getting the nod for the East Meadow response was Ladder Company #2 from Station #3.

More than 150 firefighters battled the blaze that took over three hours to get under control and long into Tuesday to extinguished the hot spots. One firefighter suffered a minor injury.


Further complicating the attack, propane and acetylene tanks inside the warehouse were exploding during the course of the firefight, sending flames 60 feet into the air.

This would be the 2nd time in as many as weeks that the East Meadow Fire Department responded to a major incident under a mutual aid agreement.

On Feb. 26, Rescues 4 and 5 quickly responded to assist the Westbury Fire Department faced with the train crash and derailment resulting in three deaths.

John J. O'Brien is an active Ex Chief of the East Meadow Fire Department. He is the District Supervisor of the Jericho Fire District and has over 40 years of Dispatch and Supervisory experience.