Thursday, October 1, 2026
On Feb. 10, Lynbrook firefighters were called out at 5:29 a.m. into the bitter cold morning for reported smoke in the basement at 23 Doxsey Place. The two-family home is two houses away from the Nathan Hale Senior Citizen complex and off of Atlantic Avenue.
First Assistant Chief James McDermott was first on the scene and found smoke pouring out the front door. He immediately broadcast a Signal 10 for a working fire for a fire that was quickly spreading in the basement. Engine Company 1 was first on the scene, and took the hydrant at the entrance to the senior complex.
With heavy smoke and heat coming up at the firefighters, they made their way down into the fire finding the boiler room ablaze. A second line was brought to the house from Engine Company's rig by Tally-Ho and other arriving firefighters. Truck Company laddered the house and vended the windows to help the firefighters in the basement. The Floodlight Unit put their Command Post into operation and also put up their light towers to light up the darkness on the icy street. McDermott also requested a mutual aid response from the other Fourth Battalion departments.
The East Rockaway Fire Department sent a Fast Team to the scene, while the other departments sent equipment to stand-by to cover other Lynbrook alarms. The Engine Company members brought the fire under control in about twenty minutes after putting out the fire in the boiler room, and the fire that had spread along the ceiling rafters to the other side of the basement. There was also a slight extension of the fire into the first floor.
The Emergency Medical Company stood-by but there were no injuries and all people in the house got out safely. Firefighters were at the scene for about 90 minutes. The cause of the fire was reported as the oil burner.
