Firehouse extension nearing completion

The two-story extension that added about 4,000 square feet to Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department headquarters, at a cost of approximately $2 million, is nearing completion.
The renovations, which began in late 2012, included a new two-bay addition on the Washington Avenue side of the firehouse, and the enclosure of an open breezeway between the original 111-year-old building and the three-bay extension, built in 1971, that faces Central Avenue. The project created more second-floor space for offices, the department’s command center, a meeting room and a handicapped-accessible restroom.
A new fire sprinkler system is being installed in the original portion of the firehouse, and the building now has a diesel-fueled backup generator. The new roof and walls were designed to match the style of the original firehouse.
Enclosing the breezeway increased the first-floor space, in order to house larger fire trucks, and will make it easier for the department to maneuver its fleet of emergency vehicles.
“It will give us more flexibility as we move equipment around, and make it safer for the firefighters to get to their gear,” LCFD Chief John McHugh explained while taking the Herald on a tour. Before the expansion was undertaken, firefighters had to step between the trucks to get to their boots, coats, helmets and other equipment, he said. McHugh added that he expects the work to be completed within the next two months.

The less time firefighters spend moving emergency vehicles around and getting to their equipment, the shorter the response time to emergency calls, he said.
The number of calls the LCFD responds to has grown dramatically over the past 45 years. According to the department, there were 266 calls in 1968, and 530 eight years later. In each of the past four years, the approximately 80-member volunteer department has responded to more than 1,000 calls, including 1,366 in 2012, the year of Hurricane Sandy (see chart). The department’s coverage area is 10 square miles, with an estimated residential population of 13,000.
“We average three calls a day, and the busier we are, the more calls for assistance there are,” McHugh said. Like many Long Island fire departments, the LCFD also provides mutual aid to neighboring departments.
Financing for the project was split among the villages of Lawrence and Cedarhurst, the North Lawrence Fire District and the Town of Hempstead.
Cedarhurst Deputy Mayor Benjamin Weinstock also recently toured the renovated firehouse. “I was very impressed,” he said. “It’s more than just an expansion; it is modernized and safer for the firemen. And the work is coming within the budget.”
The department’s enlarged command center, in particular, is a necessity, said Lawrence Trustee Michael Fragin, the village’s liaison to the LCFD. “Communications in an emergency is obviously critical, as we saw during blizzards, Sandy, [Tropical Storm] Irene and the nor’easter in March 2010,” Fragin said, “so having a unified incident command center is necessary in an area prone to natural disasters. We want to do the best we can as a village to protect our residents and be forward-thinking.”

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Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department call totals
Year        Number
1968           266
1976           530
1999           773
2000           866
2001           781
2002           730
2003           859
2004           807
2005           838
2006           954
2007           892
2008           874
2009           935
2010        1,095
2011        1,061
2012        1,366*
2013        1,111       

Source: Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department
*Hurricane Sandy