On July 2, 2015, the staff house for the Fire Island Hotel in Ocean Bay Park on Fire Island, caught fire and was fully engulfed when Chief Buzz Bragg of Point O’Woods called for island-wide mutual aid. It took 10 departments including Bay Shore and Sayville on the mainland and approximately 120 firefighters to bring the fire under control in about two hours. Fireboats from Bay Shore and Sayville, Suffolk County Marine Division officers, and fire coordinators from Fire Island and the mainland, all responded. PSE&G managed the grid and Suffolk County Water Authority increased their pumping operations to provide sufficient water to knock down the flames. The Ocean Bay Park Auxiliary provided soft drinks and food during and after. The Suffolk County Arson Squad and Brookhaven Town Fire Marshall’s office investigated the origin of the fire that left 15 people homeless.
– Fire News photos by Rene Bodkin, OBPFD
