MINEOLAS BRAVEST ANSWER THE CALL FOR MUTUAL AID (03/15/06)
In the early morning hours of Wednesday March 15th, The New Hyde Park Fire Department was alerted for a rubbish fire in the industrial section off Denton Ave. Moments later additional calls came in reporting a building fire or a house fire. First arriving New Hyde Park Units found that an assembly plant and adjacent storage area for wood pallets were engulfed in fire and propane cylinders were exploding, hampering operations. The large volume of fire coupled with the dangerous Hazardous Materials conditions dictated that the New Hyde Park Fire Department establish a defensive operation to contain and extinguish this fire. At 12:10 AM the Mineola fire Department was alerted for a request for Mutual Aid to New Hyde Park. Truck 168, the 103' Articulating Boom truck, was requested to the scene to set up an overhead Master stream operation. Lt. Jeffery Clark led the members of Truck Co#2 as the Truck was positioned and placed into operation. Several other Ladder trucks had begun setting up Master streams and the local water system was quickly becoming overburdened. It became apparent that in order to supply the necessary water, feeder lines would have to be taken across Denton Avenue into the Garden City Park Water District. Second Assistant Chief Robert Connolly was coordinating Mineola's operation with the Chiefs at the Command Post. As the water supply issue arose, Chief Connolly offered the use of Mineola's engines which carry Large Diameter Hose (LDH). This type of hose is optimal for carrying large amounts of water over long distances. The Incident Commander agreed and a request was made for Engine 167 to respond to the scene. Under the direction of Captain Lenny Schmidt and Lieutenant Michael Freitas, members of the Engine company laid approximately 750' of LDH into the scene and fed Truck 168. An additional request for Mutual Aid was made to Mineola for our Air Refilling Trailer to respond to the scene to replenish the breathing air in the firefighter air packs. As the fire operation began to come under control, The New Hyde Park Chief was given an opportunity to assess the scene from the vantage point of Truck 168's Bucket. He was taken up above the scene and was able to see the various pockets of fire which still needed to be addressed. Back on the ground the chief requested that Mineola's Truck Company go in and make entry into the various storage containers still burning in the lot. Lt. Clark led his crew into the fire and they were able to open up these containers using power saws. With the initial attack over, the aggressive interior operations were being hampered by darkness. Once again the Command post turned to Mineola for assistance, this time in the form of our Heavy Rescue truck which has a powerful light tower. Heavy Rescue 1610 was requested to the scene and placed into operation. Mineola Firefighters worked late into the night at this alarm, securing apparatus back in quarters at 4:45 AM. On 4/ 18/06 another Mutual Aid call was answered by Mineola firefighters. This time it was a request by the Floral Park FD for our Mobile Air Trailer. The Air Trailer responded to a fire scene and was used to refill air packs. This air trailer was acquired by the Department through a grant from Senator Michael Balboni. It has been used numerous times to assist our neighboring departments.
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