By Karenlyn Barone
Mike Gilmartin, who works for the Lynbrook Department of Public Works, was riding the street sweeper early April 22 when he noticed smoke and flames billowing from the Truck Company No. 1 firehouse on Earle Avenue. He immediately called the Lynbrook Police Department, which sent out the emergency call for firefighters to respond to a blaze at their own headquarters.
"Mike could see flames and a glow upstairs, and heavy smoke pushing out the windows," said Lynbrook Fire Chief James McDermott, who had been sworn into office just days earlier. "He called the police department at 5:41 a.m. and said, 'We've got a fire.'"
Protecting himself as best he could from the smoke and heat, Gilmartin, captain of Rescue, Hook, Ladder and Bucket Company No. 1, pulled two fire trucks out of the bays as he watched the flames lick the building.
The first fire companies to arrive were Vulcan and Engine Company, with Tally-Ho and Hose Company pulling up just moments later. The Emergency Medical Company set up a command post in the municipal parking lot a few hundred yards away, and the East Rockaway and Rockville Centre Fire Departments provided mutual aid.
Firefighters answering the call were surprised and saddened to learn that it was their own company firehouse, built in 1884, that was in flames.
"The firefighters made an aggressive attack and were able to knock down the fire before it extended into the attic," said McDermott, a 25-year veteran of the department. "The fire was brought under control at 6:20 a.m."
The front of the 121-year-old, two-story building, which boasts about 40 members, is made of wood, while the back extension is made of cement block, according to McDermott. The entire building is covered in aluminum siding, including the tower, which once held a bell used to summon firefighters. The right front corner of the building was damaged, and a bay door was singed by flames.
"The fire started on the first floor, in the apparatus bay," said McDermott. "The fire marshals have said it is electric in nature, but they are not specifying which electrical component may have started the fire."
Surveying the damage and evaluating the situation, Lynbrook Building Department Superintendent Michael Ryder said on the scene that "the structural integrity of the building has possibly been compromised." He added that an official engineer's report would be necessary before any decisions could be made on the fate of the building. "The fire department will be contacting a structural engineer for further evaluation and recommended remediation," he said.
In the aftermath of the fire, work crews constructed and secured reinforcement beams to the old building, and volunteer firefighters loaded gear into a truck, to be transported to the company's temporary headquarters at the Lynbrook Department of Public Works building on Merrick Road.
Five days after the blaze, Ryder issued the following statement: "The building is an old building with no sub-structure, no concrete footings, which means in order to have new framing you need a stable base for proper vertical support and to comply with current New York state building codes. It may not prove to be economically wise to fix or repair this existing structure."
Comments about this story? KBarone@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
