North Bellmore F.D. engine catches fire at home

A North Bellmore Fire Department truck ignited inside its firehouse on March 4, but firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, officials said.

One of the five fire trucks at Engine and Rescue Company No. 2 began smoking at 9:20 a.m. last Wednesday. Second Assistant Chief Joseph Domiano said firefighters quickly smelled the smoke in the station and got to work putting out the blaze, so there was little to no damage to the building, at 829 Newbridge Road.

“The cause of the fire is unknown, but it appears that it started in the engine,” he said. “The fire never actually broke out of the engine compartment –– it was mostly just smoke.”

The truck, manufactured by Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp., was parked near the back of the firehouse when it began smoking. Volunteers extinguished the fire while it was in the station’s loading bay, and the truck was then pulled outside so firefighters could raise it up and make sure that the blaze was out.

No firefighters were injured, and the building sustained only minor smoke damage. Domiano said the truck was taken to a repair shop to be looked over, and officials were uncertain whether it needed to be replaced.