Chief Robert Connolly was the first responding fire department unit. He received reports from Firecom that there were multiple calls and the Nassau County Police were reporting a working fire. Chief Connolly alerted the Department to a signal 10 working fire while responding. Upon his arrival he performed a perimeter inspection and visualized fire venting from the windows on the rear side of the building. Chief Scott Holliday arrived shortly afterwards and assumed incident command and established a command post in front of the building. Chief Connolly proceeded into the building to locate the fire and assume interior operations.

Company 2 ladder 165 arrived first and pulled slightly past the front entrance of the building. Its crew immediately began the critical assignment of search and rescue. They began searching for the fire and searching for residents that needed assistance evacuating their apartments. Teams were also sent to check the floor above the fire and to the roof to open the doors to alleviate some of the smoke and heat building up in the hallways. Company 1 engine 161 pulled in next and established a water supply on a hydrant just East of the entrance of the building. From the interior, Chief Connolly confirmed the location of the fire in a second floor apartment. Members from Engine Company 1 began to stretch the initial attack line up through the building with the assistance of members from Engine Company 3 who had just arrived on the scene on engine 167. Members from engine 167 also stretched a 2½ back up line to protect the first attack crew and the rest of the building if the fire conditions worsened. Engine 1 members pushed into the apartment under heavy smoke conditions as Company 2 members searched the apartment for victims and began to ventilate the smoke and heat. Fire was discovered in a rear bedroom that faced the back of the building. The efforts of the truck and engine companies contained the fire damage to the room of origin. Mutual aid companies provided additional manpower and powerful fans to assist with clearing the building of heat and smoke. All checks for fire extension were negative and overhaul was completed.

Investigators from the Nassau County Fire Marshal office responded as requested to assist in determining the origin and cause of the fire. The preliminary determination is that the fire began in the rear bedroom and the probable cause was electrical in nature.

Two Mineola firefighters were treated by MVAC and NCPD EMS. Both firefighters were showing signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion after fighting this fire on this unusually hot and humid morning. One firefighter was treated on the scene and refused further medical aid or transportation. The other firefighter was treated and transported by MVAC to Winthrop University Hospital for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. He was treated and released by the hospital. A female resident of the building was also treated and transported to Winthrop by MVAC for weakness and signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion. The total patient count for the incident was three.

MVAC, Garden City Park, Williston Park, New Hyde Park were called for mutual aid to the scene and East Williston Carle Place were called to headquarters to standby. The standby units responded to an automatic alarm on Liberty Ave. while Mineola units were still operating on Lincoln Ave.

The potential for a serious fire with major loss of life was averted by residents quickly reporting the fire and by the quick actions and teamwork of Mineola’s Bravest.