Shortly after 9am on Friday, November 2nd, The Oyster Bay Fire Department’s were alerted for a reported automatic fire alarm off of Ridge road in Laurel Hollow. Atlantic Steamer Chief Frank Ozol was first to respond, followed by Engine 559 from ASFC and Engine 558 from OBFD. Upon Chief Ozol’s arrival he was met with a moderate smoke condition pushing from the basement of a 1 story ranch type structure. Given the secluded location of the home and distance to the nearest fire hydrant, Chief Ozol advised fire communications to have Tanker 5511 respond 2nd due from Atlantic Steamer headquarters. The crew of Engine 559 began a search of the basement where they located fire in the utility room. They advanced an attack line through the garage to extinguish this fire. Upon the arrival of Engine 558 fire had spread to the first floor and was venting out of a window in the front of the home. The crew from Engine 558 stretched an attack line through the front door and proceeded to battle the flames.
Chief Ozol radioed to fire communications and advised them to upgrade this alarm to a working fire and requested mutual aid assistance from the Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department in the form of an additional engine to the scene and from the Bayville Fire Department for an engine to relocate to Atlantic Steamer headquarters. Tanker 5511 and Engine 552 also responded, establishing a water relay to feed Engine 558. Normally during a fire operation a fire hydrant is secured by an engine company to ensure an adequate supply of water to extinguish a given fire. In this case given the size of the fire and the distance to the nearest fire hydrant, a Tanker truck and fire engines with water tanks were utilized as the sole source of water. All crews that operated on scene mounted an aggressive interior attack and prevented the destruction of property.
Oyster Bay Fire Department ambulance 5526 was on scene for any medical emergencies associated to the fire. Two firefighters were evaluated on scene and refused transport. As well as two occupants of the home who were inside when the fire broke out.
All visible fire was knocked down within an hour and overhaul took place to locate and extinguish hot spots all fire department units operated on scene for approximately three hours.
The scene was turned over to the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office for investigation. The cause is not believed to be suspicious.
