Firefighters Battle Working House Fire on Hilton Avenue

At approximately 12:55 AM, on Saturday, September 5th, Nassau County Fire Communications (Fire-Com) alerted the Department for a report of a porch on fire on Hilton Avenue. 1st Assistant Chief Devyn Moody was on the scene at 12:57 AM and relayed to responding units of a working house fire and that all occupants were out of the home.

Engine 145 from Fire Headquarters was the first responding unit and due to close proximity to Fire Headquarters, was on scene in under one minute. Engine 142 from Station 2 was en route within three minutes of dispatch, followed by Ladder 147, Engine 143 and Ladder 144.

Assistant Chief Moody and Assistant Chief Taunton began interior and exterior operations while Chief Strysko established incident command. With the transmission of working fire by Chief Moody on his arrival, additional mutual aid resources were dispatched.

Upon arrival, visible fire was engulfing the entire porch area of an approximately 4,500 sq. ft. A.T. Stewart home. The crew of Engine 145 began stretching attack handlines to start extinguishing the fire as the crew from Engine 142 assisted in deploying additional handlines. As more units arrived on scene, Garden City firefighters, assisted by mutual aid companies, placed additional hose lines into operation. In total five handlines were in operation, with well over 100 volunteer firefighters from Garden City, and neighboring communities, on scene. As the handlines went into operation, the crews from Ladder 144 and Ladder 147 began truck company operations alongside our mutual aid companies.

Due to the large size and age of the home, firefighters faced an intensive operation. Older homes often have “balloon frame construction,” common in homes built in the 1880s to the 1930s. This older form of construction creates long, continuous areas of hundreds of unobstructed passages for fire to spread. This was especially true on the 3rd floor of the home where many small pockets of fire needed to be found and extinguished.

Due to the large volume of fire upon arrival, Chief Strysko called for an Immediate Investigation by the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s Office and Nassau County Police Department Arson Bomb Squad. During the course of the investigation by the Fire Marshal and Arson Bomb Squad, it was preliminarily determined that an extension cord was on the porch attached to an air compressor. It appears that the air compressor suffered a mechanical and/or electrical failure, which caused the unit to explode, resulting in a large fire.

There were no injuries to any occupants or firefighters. All fire department units were released from the scene at 5:15 AM.

The Department would like to extend thanks to its mutual aid partners who assisted at the scene or provided standby coverage in the event of additional alarms in Garden City, including Bellerose Terrace, Floral Park, Garden City Park, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Stewart Manor, Mineola Volunteer Ambulance, Carle Place, Westbury, Williston Park, Elmont, Franklin Square, Hempstead, Uniondale and West Hempstead Fire Departments.

In addition, thank you to the members of Garden City Police Department, NYU-Langone EMS, Nassau County Fire Communications, Nassau County Fire Marshal, Nassau County Police – Emergency Ambulance Bureau, Nassau County Office of Emergency Management who also responded and assisted at the scene.