After weeks of cold and dreary weather, May 31, the day after Memorial Day, was shaping up to be a beautiful, peaceful Spring day. But in a matter of hours, it became one of the most challenging days in the history of the Syosset Volunteer Fire Department (SFD).

The morning began fairly uneventfully for the SFD with a couple of routine calls, including an unfounded Automatic Alarm transmission from a commercial building along the Robbins Lane corridor. Then, at 10:18 a.m., the dispatcher on duty at Syosset Fire Headquarters received a call for an Automatic Alarm in a home at 6812 Northern Boulevard in Oyster Bay Cove, an area protected by the Syosset Fire District. Most Automatic Alarm calls received by the SFD are usually unfounded or are attributed to a malfunction in the system, but not this time. Within a minute, an additional call was received from Firecom, the county's fire communications center, with a 911 caller reporting a fire in the rear of 55 Coves Run - directly adjacent to the Northern Boulevard address. At this point, both the dispatcher and the responding firefighters knew this was going to be more than a routine Automatic Alarm response.

SFD Chief of Department Christian Pieper happened to be home that Tuesday, having taken a day off from his job as a supervisor at the Long Island Rail Road. At 10:20, as he exited his North Syosset home en route to the call, he saw a column of smoke rising in the distance and advised the dispatcher to transmit a "Signal 10" - the code for a working fire. A minute and a half later, Chief Pieper arrived at the scene, followed closely behind by SFD Engine 584. They were met with a large home heavily involved with fire, which was connected by a breezeway to a second structure on the property. The SFD's Tower Ladder 582 came on scene just moments later and was immediately put to work to attack the main body of fire, which was advancing at a very rapid pace.

The sheer size of the home, coupled with the significant volume of fire and the first really warm day this Spring, made fighting this fire a challenge for the 39 Syosset firefighters who responded along with mutual aid units from the East Norwich, Oyster Bay, Jericho, Plainview, Hicksville, Locust Valley, Bethpage and Glenwood fire departments. By noontime, the fire had been brought under control and overhaul and related operations would continue on into the early evening.

At 2:46 pm., while Chief Pieper and his units were still mopping up at the Oyster Bay Cove fire scene, multiple calls came in for a report of smoke in the house and a possible structure fire at 115 Colony Lane in the south portion of town, just north of the Long Island Expressway. With most of the SFD's apparatus and personnel still operating at the earlier incident, Chief Pieper ordered an automatic mutual aid response from the Hicksville Fire Department. Upon their arrival at the scene, Hicksville's Engine 932 reported a fire in a split level home and Hicksville's Second Assistant Chief immediately assumed command of the incident, requesting additional units from Plainview and Jericho.

At the Oyster Bay Cove fire scene, Chief Pieper quickly assembled firefighters and units he could send down to the Colony Lane operation. Additional Syosset firefighters, some just returning home from work, also responded to their respective stations and then to the Colony Lane scene. A total of 45 SFD members responded to this second serious structure fire in less than five hours, along with additional mutual aid units from the Oyster Bay, East Norwich and Bethpage fire departments. Several Syosset firefighters suffered minor, mostly heat related injuries while battling this second fire.

"This is the first time in anyone's memory that we have had two structure fires of this magnitude in just a few hours," said Chief Pieper. "I want to both commend and thank all the volunteer firefighters from the Syosset Fire Department who worked so hard to extinguish these two fires. These two incidents were among 10 emergency calls in the Syosset Fire District that day, well above our average of five or six calls a day. Mutual aid units played an important role in responding to all of these incidents and I would like to thank all of the surrounding fire departments who provided mutual aid responses throughout the day."

The Syosset Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1915 and is composed of over 100 men and women from Syosset and surrounding areas. The department serves an approximately 17 square mile district, with the largest response area in Nassau County. The District's fleet has 11 pieces of fire fighting apparatus and four chief's cars.

Membership requirements are as follows: members must be 18 years of age, pass a physical and an agility test, clear an arson check and clear a fire department reference and background check. Once accepted for membership, the Fire District pays for protective equipment, clothing, training etc. New members receive approximately 100 hours of training in their first two years in the department.

For information about becoming a member of the Department, contact the office of the Chief of Department at 921-0728. For fire safety information, contact the Fire Prevention Office at 921-6597.