By Doug Miller
Three firefighters sustained injuries requiring hospitalization, including two from the Long Beach Fire Department. All three were treated and released, two for hypothermia and one for an injured wrist. When it was over, officials reported having to chip several firefighters out of their turnout gear, so stiffly were they frozen.
"There were guys on the boardwalk shooting water at the fire into a northern wind," said City Manager John Laffey. "And for five hours the wind blew it back at them. But they didn't quit."
The fire, which was deemed accidental and likely electrical in nature, was first called in at 10:12 a.m. from 452 Oceanfront, between Lafayette and Washington boulevards. Fire personnel found themselves in a battle with the wind as well as the flames, as the one-room fire was stoked into a hellish blaze that choked the beach with thick smoke for several hours.
Fire Chief Ralph Tuccillo was the first into the fire, and reported zero visibility. His squad was forced to flee the building after about 20 minutes due to massive structural collapses, said former Fire Chief Scott Kemins. From that point on the fire was battled from the outside.
"The way these units are constructed, there is a block wall between each two units," Kemins said. "So we breached the wall with sledgehammers and put water on the fire through the breaches." In addition, a massive stream operation trained hoses on the fire from the tops of ladders.
"The wind kicked our butts," said Kemins. "It was one big wall of flames, because the wind makes it a blowtorch. It's the difference [between] holding a Bic lighter up to something or a blowtorch up to something." Kemins called it the city's largest fire since a building at 55 Monroe Blvd. was gutted in March 1999.
All 12 apartments in the complex were successfully evacuated, and fire officials estimated that half of the units will be livable again once power is restored. The other six will likely be razed.
Two firefighters were treated on the scene for smoke inhalation, and two others were treated at Long Beach Medical Center. Firefighter Chris Gormley, a member of the paid fire ranks, was treated for an injured wrist, and firefighter Rob Del Prete, an East Atlantic Beach resident with more than 20 years of experience in the department, was treated for hypothermia.
Late Sunday night, the department received word of a "rekindle," and firefighters from Long Beach and Point Lookout-Lido - most of whom were exhausted from the day's battle - returned to the scene and remained there until about 2 a.m. Monday.
The department received mutual aid assistance from Point Lookout-Lido, Island Park, Oceanside, Inwood, Lawrence-Cedarhurst, Baldwin, East Rockaway, Freeport, Lynbrook, Hewlett, Rockville Centre, Valley Stream, Wantagh, Bellmore, West Hempstead, Uniondale, East Meadow, Hempstead, North Bellmore and North Merrick.
The Long Beach police and the city's highway department helped by providing salt and sand as the conditions grew increasingly icy.
And most appreciated of all was the aid the department received from several grateful neighbors, who formed their own bucket brigade of coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts for the firefighters. "You like to see that," said Kemins. "It's that little pat on the back that shows that people appreciate what you're doing."
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
