What to Know
- Fast-moving flames ripped through a Long Island firehouse Christmas morning
- At least 130 firefighters battled the flames in North Massapequa, working to put out the blaze that started at around 6 a.m. Wednesday
- No one was inside the structure as it burned, but three fire trucks and an ambulance were destroyed
Fast-moving flames ripped through a Long Island firehouse Christmas morning.
Nassau County police say nobody was inside the North Massapequa firehouse when the inferno began around 6 a.m. Wednesday.
At least 130 firefighters from surrounding towns' departments arrived to find the firehouse engulfed in flames, police said. By late morning the fire was put out, officials said, and investigators were looking into what might have sparked it. Although the fire was eventually extinguished, the firehouse sustained extensive damage.
North Massapequa Fire Chief Joseph Pascale said it appeared that the fire somehow may have been started by one of the trucks, and spread quickly. He said that he and some other lieutenants tried to get one of the vehicles out, but they had to get out due to smoke and explosions.
"It’s horrible, one of the worst things you can imagine other than your own home," Pascale said. "This is our home away from home."
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The cause of the fire did not seem to be suspicious, according to officials.
Three fire trucks — two engines and a ladder truck — and an ambulance parked inside the structure were destroyed in the fire.
Pascale promised his volunteer department would bounce back. "It's not something we can't recover from, it's some we will," he said.
The department said it will use a substation in the meanwhile, and other area departments will also help out as they rebuild.
