By JOSEPH KELLARD
The Oceanside Fire Department received a call from an employee at the site at about 10:50 a.m., a department spokesperson said. The OFD was unable to provide further details about the fire, which continued to rage at press time. All operations were under the order of Chief Sean Lynch of the OFD, and eight departments responded to the scene.
According to Bill Lynch, the Oceanside Fire Department's commissioner, the fire started in the large garage storage area where workers take discarded air conditioners, refrigerators and scrap metal. "They had a payloader in there moving around all the air conditioners and scrap metal, and the town employees that were there said that one refrigerator got crushed underneath the blade of the payloader," Lynch said. "The operator of the payloader didn't see it, and he kept pushing forward, and the scraping of the refrigerator against the concrete floor made some sparks, which started the fire."
"The Town of Hempstead is working aggressively with the emergency service personnel to fight the fire," said town spokeswoman Susan Trenkel. "We contacted the appropriate authorities, and we are happy to report that no one [from the town] was injured in the fire. That's all we can say at this point."
Lynch described Monday's fire as "very large," generating so much heat that the heat did as much damage to the building as the flames, creating concerns about the building's structure. "This heat caused a stress crack that basically went from the foundation all the way up," Lynch said. "That was some pretty serious damage, and for that reason we didn't put any of the firefighters in the building. We thought the integrity of the building was questionable and it could potentially collapse."
Long Beach Road was shut down from Daly Boulevard in Oceanside to Empire Boulevard in Island Park, and traffic was diverted. Long Beach Road was reopened at about 1:40 p.m., according to the OFD. The fire was reported to be under control at 2:30 p.m., with the damage confined mainly to the garage area. No firefighters were injured, and all the employees were safely evacuated.
Lynch said that firefighters had to use a fire hydrant on Long Beach Road because the hydrants on town property were unable to provide adequate water to put the fire out. That was why, he explained, the main thoroughfare was shut down.
The fire was the second at the transfer facility in less than two years. A high mound of rubbish, comprising old refrigerators, air conditioners and landscape materials such as tree branches and bushes, stored in the rear, hangar-like area of the station, caught fire Sept. 8, 2003.
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