The Copiague Fire Department

There were no fire district lines in the early days (1890s) and fire companies responded to calls in neighboring areas¹. Due to local discrimination, two Copiague firehouses opened in 1928. There have also been some famous fires in Copiague.

Why two firehouses in the hamlet?

The people of Amityville had a low opinion of all Copiague people². The southern Copiague residents held a low opinion of the northern Copiague (Marconiville) residents. The local prejudice was such that two firehouses were built, one for the northern area and southern area³. The fire department opened with two stations November 3, 1928. Mr. Thomas Henry was the first Fire Chief of one of the stations⁴.

Currently (year 2007) there are two local firehouses. One at the southern part of Great Neck Road and the other north of the train tracks on Dixon.

Famous Fires

In 1925 the Marconiville Hotel burned down.

A big test came in February 1929 when the pants factory started to burn. The fire spread across the street to the grocery and meat store. The barber shop, tailor shop and ice cream/stationery store (run by Mr. Charles Cammaroto) also burned⁵.

In the late 1930s, a fire raged on Rooney Dairy Farm in Amityville. The call was answered by neighboring East Farmingdale and Copiague also⁶ . Even though there were harsh feelings between Amityville and Copiague, Copiague was willing to help Amityville in time of need.

In August 1949, there was a fire in the Nassau-Suffolk General Hospital. The hospital, originally the Hawkins Estate, was a three story wooden building. The fire was caused by a short circuit when nurse Harriet Smith screwed an electric bulb into a socket in a room with a patient, Isaac Brill, owner of the Farmer’s Exchange on Montauk Hwy, in an oxygen mask. The call was answered by the Copiague, Amityville, Lindenhurst, and Deer Park fire companies. No patients were injured⁷.

The Long Island Farmer’s Market on Sunrise Highway (near the All Weather Drive-In Theater) had two famous fires. In April 1958, a mysterious explosion set off a fire that caused one million dollars in damage and destroyed half of the establishment⁸. By February 1959, the market was rebuilt, and this time was fully destroyed by fire. The District Attorney’s office ordered an investigation⁹.

A brush fire charred 500 acres in the North Amityville/Copiague area in March 1962. Traffic on Sunrise Highway was snarled for over an hour. It was started by someone throwing matches around while drinking¹⁰.

Footnotes

1. Dibbins, Purdy and Ruggles, editors. “A Backwards Glance,” The Amityville Historical Society, Amityville, New York ©1980. Page 39.

2. LaGumina, Salvatore J., “From Steerage to Suburb: Long Island Italians.” Center for Migration Studies, New York, 1988. Page 35-36.

3. ibid. Page 71.

4. Eide, Elizabeth. “Copiague-Your Town and Mine.” Board of Education , Copiague Public Schools, Copiague, NY ©Elizabeth Eide 1973. Pages 41-42.

5. ibid. Pages 41-42.

6. Dibbins, Purdy and Ruggles, editors. “A Backwards Glance”, The Amityville Historical Society, Amityville, New York ©1980. Page 7.

7. Newsday, August 2, 1949. Page 3

8. ibid. April 29, 1958. unknown page number. 9. ibid. February 5, 1959. Page 4. 10. ibid. March 26, 1962. Page 7.

Web Explorations (external links)

The Copiague Fire Department´s Web Page. History, photographs, and more!      http://www.fdatcopiague.org/Vinatge.html